Subdue to Catastrophe
by BunchOfShananigans
Summary: "In his Human form he was known as Yuriko or the very first Wizard Saint. His magic was originally take over and his ability to use it was incredible, so incredible he gained the title of the first Wizard Saint, but even so, others began to rival him. Leading the title of Wizard Saint into the Ten Wizard Saints, stripping him of his spot at the top." /SIGHT LANGUAGE/
1. Chapter 1

Note: I changed Lucy's birthday and the day she joined Fairy Tail, I made it December 16th.**  
><strong>This is my first Fairy Tail FanFic. R/R; I'd love to know what you think. Constructive criticism is very much welcome. I do not proof read punctuation so there are probably many punctuational mistakes. I apologize in advanced. It'll be slow at first, but it'll pick up :3  
>I won't list what massive events have happened in Fairy Tail. If it comes up in conversation during the story then that means it has happened. Just to be clear the Tenrou arc hasn't happened and will not be happening. I started this before that arc came out(for me to read) and I want this to be a spin off somewhere in the Fairy Tail timeline. Also there us a Poll on my main page asking how you feel this should end. I already know how it'll end, but it'll either go one way or the other! I'd love to know what my reader's think.<p>

Thank you and enjoy! :3

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><p>Lucy clanked her glass together with her fellow guild members. They were louder than usual since today had finally arrived. Mira had taken initiative to plan a surprise party for her while she had been out on a lone mission. Five years in Fairy Tail and it was their loved Celestial Mages birthday. Cana raised her glass enthusiastically before tossing it down in one gulp. Lucy guzzled the liquid down in unison, warmth tickling the back of her throat.<p>

_I think that was my 5th one_. Lucy laughed at how flustered and great she felt, _Perhaps I should do this more often._ Fairy Tail's birthday princess hadn't ever sat down to drink with her guild mates. During any times there were festivities she had been the one to make sure everyone got home okay and that never bothered her. Rather be safe than sorry.

Loki had even joined in on the festivities along with Aries. Since Loki had helped the Blonde Mage train and practice on how to control, conserve, and on rare occasions even consume magic, she could summon more than one spirit simultaneously and actually felt like a good asset to the team. Her team. The Strongest Team in Fairy Tail.

When the four of them, plus Happy, first teamed up it was only a rumor that they were actually deserving of the "Strongest team" title, but after countless missions and countless world savings, Master Makarov deemed them worthy to actually wear the title. News quickly spread throughout Fiore and then leaked onto neighboring lands and finally reached the magic council. It first started an uproar with other guilds, but that fire was doused quickly. Erza, Gray, Happy, Natsu, and Lucy held that title with pride everywhere they went.

Lucy scanned the bar looking for a glimpse of salmon pink hair.

"Looking for someone, sweetheart?" Mira's smile always reassured Lucy that even if she couldn't find him, it would be okay. It never failed to amaze Lucy Mira's ability to reflect her soft heart and smile vocally or what it could do for a distressed soul.

"No Mira, just enjoying the scene." Lucy grinned drunkenly at the beautiful silver haired Mage, kinda feeling bad for lying. _Hey, I'm only half looking for someone, so technically I didn't lie to her. _She felt triumphant in her tipsy train of thought. _But.. Where is he.._

As though he could read her mind the salmon pink haired Dragon slayer bounded up to her with Lisanna in tow.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!" Natsu squeezed Lucy with a giant hug that felt like it was going to be the death of her. For one of two reasons; he was squeezing too hard and heat radiated off of him when he hugged her cut her breath short especially in their drunken stopper. Heat upon heat was NOT an ideal combo. Lisanna mimicked his gesture, after which linking arms with Natsu.

The birthday girl's mind fizzled for a second not quite sure how she felt about what she just witnessed, but she continued to keep a dazed smile on her face. It was probably all the alcohol she had that was causing her to feel heated up, but the moment after Natsu had started talking with Mira about something she couldn't comprehend, she caught Lisanna snuggle closer to Natsu's body. Lucy slowly felt her mood start to swing and knew it was time to leave her own birthday party.

"Hey Lucy, I got somethi—"Before the sentence left his mouth, Natsu noticed Lucy bidding farewells to her fellow guild members while slipping on her scarf and heavy jacket. _No, Don't leave yet!_ He had to give her something, her gift. A gift that he had searched far and wide for knowing it would make her happy. He started to sneak away noticing Lisanna was in deep conversation with Mira, Elfman, Master Makarov, and Laxus, but each time he'd get a certain distance away, someone would stop him to drink with him. By the time he reached the door, Lucy was nowhere in sight. The dragon slayer dropped his hands to his side sighing, _oh __Lucy__…_

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><p>Stepping into the open snowy air left her feeling a tad better. The cool air as she inhaled tickled her lungs and warmed her nostrils when she exhaled. The clouds that emanated from her mouth rose to greet the low hanging full moon. Snuggling her chin farther into her scarf and jacket, Lucy stepped onto the ledge running parallel and looming over Magnolia river.<p>

_I wish I could've just hugged him forever. It was so nice__…_ Lucy's thoughts trailed back to Natsu a lot more than usual. A year ago she had finally accepted that what she felt for Natsu was love. Not just some small love that would go away or change over time, but a love that wanted to burn forever. He was just about the best thing to happen to her this night 5 years ago when they were running away from the Military force of Hargeon. He had saved her from a treacherous slave trader who claimed to be in Fairy Tail. Slandering Natsu's guild and name, he took his anger out on the slave traders after which brought Lucy to Magnolia where Master Makarov accepted her into his family of Fairies.

Even after being accepted into this lovely family, she only convinced herself that Natsu and her were nothing more than friends.

until Edolas.

His dedication to his friends, the way he was determined to constantly protect them, his strength, his will, and his partnership with her. She valued their partnership more then she ever thought, but when she witnessed his anger when he saw the huge Lacrima in Royal Cities market place and heard what the king wanted to do with it, she had wrapped her arms around him to calm him down. She loved the feeling of hugging him like that and not letting go. He had tried to go, tried to snap, but something stopped him. SHE had stopped him and knew that they needed each other. Finally, When that entire segment was over she opened up her eyes to the Dragon Slayer and saw something in him that finally got herself to accept that it was love and that something was going to help her actually confess to him, but it was already too late because Lisanna was back from the dead.

Thinking about Lisanna and Natsu tonight really made her skin boil with jealousy. Never once did Lucy have a problem with Lisanna they naturally got along splendidly. Knowing that Natsu wouldn't catch on to the Celestial Mages feelings she hid them when she noticed Lisanna taking a big liking to Natsu. After all she was here first and whose business was it to butt into the middle of something that had taken off so long ago? Not Lucy.

But tonight was different, tonight was her night.

Her Birthday.

Her five years.

And Lucy finally wanted Natsu to know how she felt, but seeing Lisanna attach to Natsu like that made her feel like a terrible friend for even thinking about taking Natsu away.

So she walked away.

Along the way home her buzz was settling in even more, _must have been those last 3 I took. Damn._

Lucy's vision became a little hazy and decided she was just going to nap, but only until morning when she was okay. Not realizing where she was, the blonde mage crouched down forgetting that she was on the rail of the river and started to fall.

_I'll just lay down for a bit__…_ She closed her eyes and felt the intoxication completely subdue her consciousness.

It was odd because she seemed to have fallen forever until she finally hit ground or so she thought. In a split second her eyes snapped open from the impact of the blistering cold river surface. She'd never felt anything so cold until it started seeping into her clothes.

Trying to regain her strength to swim, the alcohol refused to let her. As Lucy continued to sink from all the layers, she felt a heavy pressure on her head forcing bubbles to escape instead of a yell. Before passing out from lack of oxygen and pain, she thought you glimpsed a shadow reaching for her.

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><p>"Lucy..."<p>

His voice sounded so far away. _Why can't I speak? Natsu? My lips wont move._

"Lucy, are you okay?"

Lucy managed to mumble something along the lines of *What are you doing in my room, but from the sound of his sigh of relief and tinge of laughter, it didn't come out as smooth as she thought. Regaining full consciousness took what felt like minutes until her body registered a heat source pressed against her. The fire dragon was cradled next to Lucy, shirtless, for maximum heat exposure. His left arm rested underneath the nape of her neck to keep her body cocooned to the groove of his body while his right hand kept fixing a warm towel nesting atop her forehead.

"What happened? I ran as fast as I could when I heard the splash." Concern Lucy had recently started to catch on to dripped off every word. Before talking she had to lick her chapped lips... and her throat! Goodness gracious her throat burned like coals.

"water..." One eye lid popped open allowing her to somewhat see Natsu as he reached for water on her nightstand. The liquid felt fantastic as it washed all the burning sensation away. Taking a slight breath and opening her other eye, she sat up and glanced around.

Her room. But how did she get here? And why was she in Pajamas... OH MY GOD.

Lucy opened her mouth as wide as her eyes as if to freak out, "Hold up!" He placed a finger against her lips, "Virgo changed you. When you left the guild, I hadn't got to give you your gift so I followed you. It took a while to catch up, but as I did you just fell into the water." Natsu scratched his head and looked up remembering what he saw, "I pulled you out and ran you here. Nasty shakes you had, but Virgo sensed you needed help. Loki showed up, but was too fucking intoxicated to handle shit." The flames in his eyes grew from the anger towards the leader of her Zodiac keys. Loki should have known better than to get toasted like that just incase something happened. And look what _did _happen._  
><em>

"So, Virgo and I took care of you." He awkwardly laughed to himself not sure whether he had been funny or not. The worry that filled his words were clearly seen in his eyes and melted onto his expression. Seeing this side of Natsu was a reminder to why she fell for him. She still felt slightly intoxicated, but she wanted him to know. Now, more than ever.

"Hey, Nat-"

"Oh! Yeah!" He jumped off the bed interrupting, unbeknownst to him, the most important secret she wanted to share. The spiky haired mage walked over to the kitchen counter, reached behind a wall, and pulled out a flower pot housing a baby sunflower. Its petals were a beautiful sunshine gold with the head of the sunflower(the center) shining of a deep metallic brown that faded to gold where the head and petals met, "I remember you made mention about having a sunflower that you grew with your mom. It wasn't easy to find at all." He was so cute when he was frustrated, getting all flustered and annoyed thinking about the memory. "It was extremely difficult to find this time of year. So you better take care of it, ya hear?" Nothing could describe this. Nothing.

Except Perfection.

As Lucy went to stand and reach for his gift, Natsu raced to her side pushing on her shoulders back onto the bed, "I got this," he replied placing the sunflower on the coffee table so that it could be moved onto her windowsill when the sun came up. Sitting upright, Lucy extended her arm to grab onto his wrist to hoist herself to her feet. Instinctively salamander placed one hand gently on the hollow of her back to steady her, "Are you sure you're okay to be standing?"

Nodding the Celestial mage leaned into him, wrapping her arms all the way around his back while snuggling her cheek against his warm bicep. She could feel his chest tighten holding in a large breath of air before releasing it and melting into her hugging back. _Just stay like this forever... please. _

It seemed like hours until Natsu broke the silence, "Hey Lucy, I'm sorry to do this to you, but Mira asked me to help her back at the guild with something." Dreading him pushing away, Lucy stepped back first dropping onto her bed. _Of course you do... you'd do anything to help your family. _"I promise I'll be back, okay and while I'm gone, don't move around too much, stay under the covers, and don't hesitate to call me if you feel worse. Okay?" Holding onto Lucy's shoulders his grip tightened a bit before heading for the door, "I'll see you soon."

Watching him leave through the front door was an odd sight to comprehend. Normally he would jump out the window or crash through a door, but to watch him walk out the door... Man, alcohol definitely had a terrible effect on assessing an emotional situation properly. Before rolling over into bed, the small sunflower gleamed in the moonlight creeping through the window. Natsu's cheeky grin flashed through her memory which caused her to yanked the covers up and over her head.

Feeling feverish reminded her that normally Natsu would be laying with her right now. Keeping her warm, but something told her that tonight was her night to cry, cry for something she wasn't even sure the tears were for, and be better by the morning. _Happy birthday to me.._


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: **I'm trying to make this part as long as I can! I have so many ideas swarming in my head that it's difficult to actually get something I love and want people to read. When I get an idea I write it in Word then save it so that maybe I can use it later! I hope you guys like it! I'll try to update one more time before Friday, but if I don't. It might not be awhile until I update. My best friend who is in the Navy is coming home on the 16th for two weeks! I'll do my best to keep updating within those two weeks! Thanks :D  
>P.S. I might add come "extra" chapters meaning chapters that have nothing to do with the plot. Alright! Enjoy! :D<p>

**Thanks to: **Chiharu Himeji and Footster26 for reviewing; OreoGurl101, Lucarby, evergreen dryad, Elemental Dragon Slayer, and Crystilia.

**Disclaimer: **Hiro Mashima rules.

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><p>The Blonde beauty was completely content with the thought of sleeping in. She was extremely warm and didn't feel like putting her toes on the hard wood floor that was bound to be cold. Yet, she peeked one eye open and noticed the sunflower had stretched towards the window as if silently begging for the sunlight. Attempting to turn over, she stopped. Something so warm and familiar was missing altogether.<p>

Natsu.

He hadn't come back. He had broken his first promise to her. Lifting the blanket back over her head, Lucy disappeared into the warmth of her blankets. After finally drifting to sleep the night before, she convinced herself that Natsu would be next to her in the morning, like nothing happened, but as she continued to become more aware of the morning streaming through the windows, Lucy let the pain sink in, she felt pathetic. The Celestial Mage was unsure if he even loved her like that, yet lately it had started hurting a lot more than usual. Now, even more so since he broke a promise. It was so Un-Natsu like. Nonetheless she grumbled under the covers, having a mental war with herself to get out of bed and do something productive instead of moping around. Who knows, perhaps he had been kept late cleaning up for Mira.

_Time to blow off some steam._

Changing into some capris and a t-shirt, She grabbed her Celestial Keys, Fleuve d'étoiles, slipped on shoes, and hesitated at the door. She felt a slight ping in her head telling her to rest, that the fever was still there, but Lucy being Lucy ignored it and jogged through the newly melted mid-morning snow, up through the mountains outside of Magnolia, and to an open patch of forest. She felt heated; ready to move, ready to fight, ready to ignore the slight pinch of the cold breeze.

"Open the Gate of the Lion! Leo!"

The ramblings hard started before the body fully appeared, "Lucy, I'm so sorry about last night. I should've been there. I felt something off, but my senses were all fucked up. I'm so so sorry Lucy.." Loki was grimacing over the fact that he had let his master walk alone, at night, in snow, and intoxicated. His misery hung over his head, "I promise I'll be better at taking care of you."

"It's okay Loki! It wasn't just your fault. I was being reckless." She reassured him with one of her infamous smiles. He huffed dealing with that answer, for now. "I want to get back into training though, but this time I want you to throw in some hand to hand combat." Loki glanced at her wondering what had peeked the sudden interest in hand to hand, but without question he accepted it. Glancing a fiery determination ablaze in her dark brown eyes, preparing himself for what was going to be hours of sparring.

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><p>"Natsu!" Lisanna lunged and hung onto Natsu's neck as she burst through the doors mid-afternoon ready to take on a mission. She hugged him and wished him a good morning, "Are we going on our mission today?" Natsu had promised her a mission with just the three of them last night while he was helping clean. Lisanna convinced him that it would help her get back into the groove of missions and it would help her grow stronger, something she could really use.<p>

Natsu grumbled and stood up dazed. Bags had formed under his eyes from a lack of sleep.

He had been stuck in the guild last night after helping Mira and Lisanna clean everything up. By the time he had been ready to leave, so much snow had fallen it blockedthe doors. Mira knew he could've just burned it all away, but insisted he stayed in the Guild for the night so he wouldn't get sick or lost out in such a blizzard. Bad things just kept racking up, one after another.

One: He had to leave Lucy behind not feeling well. He was stuck worrying all night.  
>Two: He promised to go on a mission with just Lisanna and Happy because Mira was right there and Natsu didn't want to get a scolding from her. Leaving Lucy, one of his official team mates behind.<br>Three: The snow had caked the guild by 4 in the morning, there was no way out. So indefinitely Natsu gave up his escape plan and was stuck inside with Mira. Lisanna had gone home before the snow had picked up. No keeping Lucy warm tonight.. _Forgive me Lucy._ What a night to miss, a night when his abnormal body heat would have helped her.

But worst of all was when realization struck that a promise to return had been made. Now, Lucy would have been waking up shivering and upset that Natsu Dragneel had broken his first promise to his teammate. _Great... _He was sure that Lucy was pretty level headed and stayed hopeful that she would understand him having to stay for cleanup.

All in all it was an extremely restless night in a guest room upstairs. The room was lonely without his blonde. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't stay away from her place. It was welcoming and it felt like he belonged there. The best thing about being at Lucy's was waking up the next morning having that cute little nose, and soft hands resting on his chest, snuggling closer for more warmth. A laugh escaped his lips as the memory resurfaced to the forefront of the salamander's thoughts.

Slight confusion spread a crossed the Take Over mage's face when she vaguely caught his laugh. What was so funny to Natsu? What was running through his mind as he was waiting for Happy to pick a mission that just struck his funny bone? It hadn't needed another question before it slammed Lisanna in the face.

Lucy.

It had to be, but just to make sure, Lisanna wanted to test it.. "Hey Nat-"

"I picked one!" The Flying blue Exceed interrupted any private conversation that was about to take place. Holding the mission form excitedly, both Natsu and Lisanna read it. 160,000J were rewarded for finding and taking out a small group of bandits in Hosenka Town. The small town famous for their loving spa had recently been under attack by this group. Kosuki, their leader, had been spotted a few times, but lately the harassment had started picking up and Hosenka wanted them gone. They were known for attacking only women.

"Sounds fun!" Lisanna grinned at the cat, extremely ecstatic that Happy had picked something that would last a few days. _A day train ride, a day or two to actually scout them out, and MAYBE a loving night at the spa_. The silver haired mage gleefully grabbed the mission from Happy and gave it to Mira, who informed them that the Mayor of Hosenka would be alerted prior to the guild members departure from Magnolia. Lisanna smiled locking with Natsu's arm and pumped her free fist into the air. "Lets go!"

"Aye Sir!" Happy was just about as enthusiastic for the mission as Lisanna.

"Natsu?" voice full of concern, "What's wrong?"

Instantly the joyful face morphed into that of a sickened dog, "We're taking the train… Aren't we?" Dreading the entire ride that lay before him. For an moment, motion sickness had been forgotten. Their new companion laughed and dragged him along with Happy snickering in the background.

"You can just lay on my lap and sleep." She reassured him that everything would be okay, yet she felt a pinch of darkness in her heart. She never wanted to come back, she wanted to leave with Natsu and Happy right now. Immediately she shook those thoughts out of her head. No. She loves Fairy Tail even Lucy, she couldn't live without them. Nodding her head with her decision she laughed her way to the train station with the pink haired Dragon slayer and their flying blue cat.

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><p>"Ha!" Lucy shouted loudly as she slung her arm as hard as she could, nailing Loki in the neck with her wrist. He hissed as he knelt down in pain holding his neck where she had managed to land an attack. The lovely mage stepped back a few paces giving Loki some room to recover. Knowing it would take a few moments she became fixated on a few birds taking flight.<p>

"Damn Lucy..." He hadn't even been prepared for her to swing on him like that with that much magic force. Three and half hours ago she was just picking up on the defensive maneuvers, but now she picked up on defensive and offensive. Within the next two hours Loki had noticed how when she prepared her assault; feet locked and ready to launch, she shifted her feet in the direction which she was going to go, so, he used that against her after figuring it out, but his master had out smarted him. That was how she managed to get that hit in. Not once had she hit him in those three and a half hours until now. It all happened so quickly, understanding that he shouldn't have underestimated her, he recapped his mistake.

When she had been ready to launch, her feet said she was going left, as she did, but within two seconds she had managed to hook right, avoiding his arm swing. She instinctively hopped over his second attack, which was a swift damage inflicting kick, and using her strength she latched onto his shoulders to flip over him. Loki felt as if everything was in slow motion as he watched her flip over him with a slight smirk and knew she had just won. As she was in the air she filled her right arm with magic, let go of his shoulder, still holding on with her left hand, and slung her wrist into his neck. Immediately sending him down on one knee, his neck pulsating in agonizing pain as the magic surged and formed a nasty purple bruise.

He knelt there watching her observe the sky. She looked so stunning just standing there with her eyes closed, obviously enjoying the cool breeze that picked up. Catching a glimpse of something he wasn't sure was real or not, he thought he saw Lucy's left leg lose feeling and slightly cause her to kneel, but when he blinked she was standing like nothing happened except now she was looking at him smiling.

"Thanks Loki, I really needed that!" She took confidence in her strength knowing she had grown so strong, strong enough to finally lay a hit on Loki. The strongest of all the celestial spirits.

He smiled at her as he stood and nodded, "Anytime my dear Lucy."

The Celestial Mage held the Lion's key ready to close his gate when her eyes closed and her body went completely limp. Loki stood frozen for a split second trying to comprehend what happened. One second his master was standing there with confidence in her eyes and a brilliant smile on her face. The next he blinked and she was on the ground. Not moving.

"Lucy!" Loki dashed to her side and felt her forehead, he winced. A fever, a deadly fever. He had to get her to the guild, they could do more for her then he could at this moment in time. Lifting Lucy from the moist ground, he dashed off quickly to Fairy Tail knowing he had to hurry to keep the fever down.

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><p>Erza was the first to sense something was off as Loki walked through the doors. Setting down her cheesecake she approached and reached out her hand to feel Lucy's forehead, "Get her to the infirmary upstairs. I'll be right behind you with a cold bucket of water and a rag." Already gone.<p>

Gasping, Levy dropped her books taking place at Loki's side, "Is Lu okay?"

"Up here Loki." Mira's voice was stern yet soothing calling up the stairs and down a corridor that led to the infirmary, "Please make way everyone, thank you." Politely as ever she brought Loki to an empty bed, Wendy and Gray filing in before Erza appeared, a bucket and rag in hand, and closing the door. Placing them on the nightstand, Mira promptly took over like a Mother caring for her child.

"It's a dangerous fever. How long has she been running this temperature?" Mira draped the cool rag over Lucy's forehead, a sigh of alleviation spouted from the sick mage's lips.

"I'll go check my herbal remedies book and see if I can't find something to keep her fever at bay." Levy rushed out ready to tackle whatever challenge her best friend was facing.

Erza approached Loki, resting a hand on his shoulder, "What happened Loki?"

He was sitting down running his fingers through his hair taking a deep breath, "We were sparring. At first it was just her practicing pulling out more than one spirit, then it became physical combat." He shook his head in disbelief as he stared at his Master's body that was shuddering uncontrollably, "We had agreed that if she managed to lay a good hit on me, we'd finish with her training for the day. So, she landed a good one on me," He paused to show them the bruise, "Then she was just standing there ready to let me rest and in a split second... She fell." The image replayed in his head over and over when he closed his eyes.

"None of us knew she was sick. She was drinking last night, but showed no signs of illness." Gray reassured him that none of this was his fault, "Did she show any sign before you guys started practicing?"

Frantically he shook his head, "No, Lucy was perfectly fine. She seemed more determined that I'd seen her in sometime actually. But it is, my fault. I should not have pushed her so hard." Remembering last night he added, "And knowing what happened last night, I should have known something like this was going to happen. I should have been there this morning when she woke up."

Wendy pipped in, "It's okay Loki, we were all being a little reckless last night. As long as she got home safely, which Natsu had shared with us this morning."

"That's not true at all. On her way home she fell into the river. Natsu had to pull her out because..." He winced, "because I was too intoxicated and too far away to sense her distress..." Erza watched as Loki beat himself up on the inside for what happened to his Master. She could only feel sympathy for the poor spirit. "I brought her here because in this condition she couldn't survive at her apartment. She needed more support than a spirit who is draining her energy."

Erza squeezed his shoulder, acknowledging his struggle, "I'm going to help Levy look for an antidote. Don't destroy yourself too much Leo. Lucy's a strong woman and she'll be okay."

While Mira continued to tend to Lucy's cloth, Wendy attempted to heal her, but with such a violent and uncontrollable fever, her powers couldn't really do much. She sulked back into the corner her chair and quietly conversed with the long silver haired mage.

Glancing around the room in a hushed voice, Loki noticed, "Where's Natsu?"

"Flame brain went out on a mission this morning with Lisanna and Happy." Gray heard Loki hiss, "My thoughts exactly." Back when Gray had first met Lucy, he was interested in her, she was new and her determination to complete a task rivaled his at times. He enjoyed a good challenge and that's what she always managed to give him, but looking at the guild's only Celestial Mage he began to view her more as a best friend/sisterly type especially after he discovered her heart was in the hands of his wretched fire breathing rival.

Gray first noticed her feelings for him showed after they all had returned from Edolas. He wasn't quite sure if they started IN Edolas or before, but nonetheless something had happened during Edolas for her to start acknowledging it. They had started to hang out more than usual and even have boisterous fits about Natsu always sneaking into Lucy's house. Gray would even catch her smiling at that stupid dragon in a way the Ice mage hadn't seen before. Then, Lisanna started moving back into his life. Gray saw Lucy's feelings retreat as she started treating him like nothing more than a best friend, but every now and then he saw her slip up. The feelings she had almost confessed to him were still there.

_Hot-headed fire breather is to fucking dense to realize what he has. Asshole._

Lucy's breathing sped up drastically prior to falling back into a quiet, uneasy rhythm. Gray had crafted a small Ice block for Loki to place on the huge bruise. The Lion had wrapped it up in another towel and held there while he watched Wendy give the towel another dunk in the water basin.

"We'll keep her here and watch over her." Erza had entered back with Levy right behind her. "She'll just need to rest, eat some soup, keep that towel on her head. We'll have that medicine made that'll help keep her immune system fighting this virus." Levy smiled at Loki as he sighed in relief.

"She's just got a cold, but it could easily get worse if she doesn't rest." Levy put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "Lu will be alright. We promise. Just go rest now." Loki hung his head and proceeded to stand up.

"I'll take up that offer not for my sake, but so our princess can rest without me draining from her, but if anything happens. I'm always listening. Thanks guys." All the mages nodded as he glistened gold and disappeared.

"Carla and I can take shifts in here taking care of the towel if you guys want to go get the medicine ready and the food." Wendy smiled up at the older Mages, happily wanting to be able to help.

Erza laid a hand on the tiny Dragon Slayers shoulder with a smile of gratitude, "Alright, Wendy." Carla flew in with a blanket a pillow for Wendy use while she sat on the chair. Each Fairy Tail member taking up a job got to work on their tasks to help their Blonde Celestial Mage find the path to feeling better.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:** I'll admit. I HATED writing this chapter. I personally believe this to be a very boring chapter. So I sincerely apologize! This was extremely difficult for me to type for some reason. I've rewritten it four times. I blame most of it on my spacey-ness because my best friend comes home tomorrow. My brain isn't in the FanFic mode right now xD BUT, It will pick up. I promise!br /I'M SORRY FOR THIS CHAPTER BEING SO SLOW. NEXT ONE WILL BE BETTERR! Just had to get this stuff out of the way :3

**Thanks to:**** Senbei x Cup Ramen: **Thanks so much! I tried to make the sparring really cool since it was the first "action" type movement in the Fic. I'm so happy you think it's epic! :DD I'm updating as much as possible x3 and thank you. I definitely plan on it :)  
><strong>strongevergreen dyrad:<strong>Oh, it's all cool, I COMPLETELY understand ;D You're welcome! Lisanna I feel will always get in the way because she had disappeared so long, personally I think Lucy is better for Natsu anyway :p and nooooo, I try so hard to not have spelling errors xD Whenever I update, it's 3-4 in the morning here v.v And I'm glad you liked the sparring too, it makes me more confident in writing the fights scenes :3  
><strong>stronglucyxnatsu-written: <strong>It's not over yet my friend! :D  
>And Others~ <strong>strongB-Mine, spocketlaine, NuhHuh94, lotta, Yondaime Namikaze, strongand strongTill Love Ceases.**

**Disclaimer: **Hiro Mashima rules.

* * *

><p>Just as the Pink haired fire breather thought, it was an easy 160,000J. Now all he wanted to do was go home, but Lisanna didn't. It had been two and a half days. One afternoon filled with travel, the second half of that day spent investigating. The next day they spent more time investigating and then struck when night hit finding their hideout; a small house on the far side of town. Kosuki and his gang were then rounded up and thrown to the Hosenka Military force.<p>

Lucy's probably so upset at me right now, but I'll gladly pay the consequences if she'll forgive me…He ruffled his hair in frustration waiting for Lisanna to get out of the small book store they had found. The strongest team in Fairy Tail NEVER got to or even wanted to indulge in what the towns they went on a mission for had to offer. It was only strictly a business trip, but his new companion at this time had a different mind track than Erza, Gray, and Lucy. She wanted to stop and window shop or visit different book stores.

"Natsuuuuu… Can we go home?" Happy had been complaining for half an hour now, ready to go home to see Carla. Lisanna then bounded out of the book store with a bag swinging on her side.

"I found a book to help out my magic progress." She grinned, but slouched when she noticed that Happy and Natsu weren't in the least excited for her, "The LEAST you could be is enthusiastic for me… Geeze."

"We're catching the next train Lisanna. Happy and I are ready to go home." He was extremely grouchy and looked exhausted. The young girl sighed and nodded. She wasn't ready to go home though; she wanted to spend more time with Natsu. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Natsu. (And Happy, but he was his best friend so it was a box set.)

"Aye Sir!" Happy shrieked with happiness flying into the air then floating back down to settle on Natsu's fluffy pink hair.  
>On the way to the train station, Lisanna felt a pinch at her heart. She noticed it once when she was still at the guild and Natsu had been in deep thought about something. Or someone. Now she remembered that she hadn't gotten to ask him about his thoughts because Happy had interrupted. She didn't want to go back to the guild, not because of the guild, but because of Lucy.<p>

Personally, she never had any problems with Lucy. In Lisanna's eyes, the blonde Celestial Mage was amazing. She was pretty, nice, intelligent, and had grown extremely strong in the five years she had been with Fairy Tail. A lot stronger than Lisanna could ever wish to be, but whenever Natsu was around Lucy, she noticed the way Natsu looked at her. She wanted him to look at her like that, not Lucy. Yet, she never wanted to confront Lucy about it because she observed that whenever Natsu would try to engage Lucy in a random conversation, the Blonde would just laugh at whatever he was saying then go back to what she was doing like she wasn't interested. And by the way Natsu always talked about how Lucy lectured him the day before because he had gone through her window again, Lisanna knew they were close, but how close?

The questions and thoughts had boggled her mind so much lately, but no matter what she thought about, all the answers swayed back to Natsu having more feelings for Lucy than just a best friend.

Pausing her thought process to buy three tickets to Magnolia, she felt a pressure on her. It felt as though darkness was creeping up on her heart to steal her away from her consciousness. emI'm probably just tired. The three partners loaded the train and took their seats even though they still had an hour.

"I want to die…" Natsu flopped his head onto Lisanna's lap. It was the only comfort he could find during transportation.

"We're not even moving yet!" Happy laughed at his best friend's weakness. Lisanna heard him grumble in retaliation and laughed a bit feeling the pinch leave for the second time that week.

* * *

><p>Her head throbbed with pain and her body ached. Two days prior to finally waking up, Lucy remembered little of how she got into the Guild's hospital room, but when she had finally woken up, Wendy was sitting in a small chair, sleeping with Carla on her lap. The room was dimly lit with two lanterns; one by the door and the other next to her bed with a little moonshine creeping through the curtains on the wall left of the bed.<p>

Within a few seconds Loki had appeared and smiled at her, "Lucy…" He had sounded absolutely relieved as he started to describe what had happened.

Now, two days later, she was finally awake again and feeling amazing despite a massive headache. Lucy sat up on the bed trying to look out the window remembering the conversation between her and Loki. It consisted of very little details except that he feels she had been out for such a long time because of the heavy drinking, the cold that had been waiting to attack, and using up so much magical power to spar with him.

"You got me good Lucy." He had smirked as he showed her his battle wound. It was still a heavy bruise, "You progressed amazingly!"

Hearing him say that rang in her head and made her smile each time. She was truly getting stronger and stronger without really realizing it. To hit Loki with her wrist was fine, but then at last second she had added her own little unique move; Maneuvering her magical energy to her hitting point to make more of an impact and it had worked.

Still, it bothered her, no one had made any mention of Natsu and she wasn't in any mood to ask remembering that he had broken a promise to her. As if being summoned to make her bad mood go away, Mira walk into the room holding a bowl of soup and honey-lemon chamomile tea.

"It's so good to see you awake again Lucy!" Her smile added ease to Lucy's heart. Mira was just so pure it was hard to feel anything negative around her. "Plus, your skin has turned back to its normal color. Pale didn't suit you very well." She winked as she set the food down on the side table.

"It's great to be awake again. It was a nightmare sleeping for so long." The newly recovered Mage shivered as if remembering something, "I really didn't think I was going to wake up again Mira…"

Her voice trailed to a whisper. Mira sat down in the chair where Wendy had been earlier that morning to talk to her about her sickness.

"What do you mean?" The concern in her voice could melt any cold heart.

"I'm not sure, but it was empty and cold." Lucy read her face and felt terrible for rolling so much onto the beautiful Mages' shoulders, "But never mind that! I'm extremely hungry." She and Mira shared a laugh as her stomach grumbled.

"Master came back from his meeting right before you woke up and was quite worried." Mira then stood and walked to the window, opening the curtain letting December evening light stream through, "But he then got an urgent message from the council so he left with Erza and Gray, leaving Laxus to watch over everyone."

"He should be back soon though." Wendy walked in with Levy and Carla in tow.

"Lu!" Levy embraced her best friend, "I'm so glad you're okay. I have some medicine for you to take too. I found it in one of my books and it should help boost your immune system long enough to vanquish this virus." She was ecstatic about her find.

"Thanks Levy." The Celestial Mage turned to Wendy, "You too. Thank you all so much." All three ladies smiled and nodded. They were all family, so they would gladly take care of one another. No matter what.

The next hour passed with ease. It was spent with Lucy getting up and walking around the guild again, talking with all her guild members, and drinking that medicine Levy had made. It was probably the most dreadful tasting thing in this world(or any world), but it made her feel like she could save the planet from anything. It made her senses spike and completely alert of everything going on around her.

"Even though you're feeling good right now, Loki and I think it would be a good idea if you stayed here for another night at least." Mira was cleaning yet another beer glass. The guild was rowdy again, happy that their only Celestial Mage was walking about again. Cana had even offered Lucy some drinks, but she declined in the sincerest way possible. So, instead Cana drank with Elfman and Freed, pleased to know she can easily surpass their drinking capability. Loki had been coming and going making sure that when he wasn't watching her Capricorn was. He was taking complete blame on himself for what happened to his master, he was going to guarantee that it wasn't ever going to happen again.

Lucy smiled watching everyone's happiness as she walked back into her little room. She closed the door behind and slid over to the window making sure it was open a crack so she could feel the cool December air, but not enough to spike a fever again.

To be honest, even being taken care of here, in the guild, she missed her apartment. A lot more then she thought she would. Spacing out the window she started thinking about rent. emI have to do a job soon to be able to pay for that. I don't know if they'll let me though.

"Lucy?"

For a split second she froze then spun around to face the Dragon Slayer.

"Lucy, are you okay?" He sounded concerned.

_Well duh, Lucy, He's your best friend._

"I just got back from a mission and Mira told me you were in here." He started walking towards her, wanting to reach out and hug her. She looked strong, just as usual, but something was off about how she stood. Her stance told him that she was still recovering.

"Ah, how did it go?" She hid the hurt instantaneously after hearing he just finished a mission.

"It was fine, but that doesn't matter. I want-"

"Geeze, Natsu, you could have walked with me instead of leaving me standing at the door." Lisanna popped her head in. She saw Lucy and smiled, "Lucy, Mira mentioned you got sick and were out for a few days. Are you alright?" She walked up to the recovering guild member and gave her a tight embrace which was returned.

"I'm better thanks. I just used up too much magic when I was sparring with Loki." She rubbed her head sitting down on the bed feeling a tad bit light headed. "I heard you just got back from a mission, how was it? Wait. I'm sorry! Here, sit!" Lucy shot up offering her seat to Lisanna and him, "You guys are probably exhausted."

Lisanna absolutely admired Lucy. Her she was sick as a dog, still recovering and she was offering up HER bed for her to sit down on a rest, "It's okay Lucy. I'm doing fine, but thanks" Knowing Lucy was light headed, Lisanna ushered her to sit back down. The two girls then rapidly got into a conversation about the mission they'd just got back from.

Natsu stood to the side quietly watching Lucy. Something was a miss, he sensed it when he had mentioned he'd just got back from a mission. He was about to talk to her about what happened before they left, but Lisanna had barged it. He wanted nothing more then to hug her and tell her how sorry he was, but all he could do right now was watch. The tint of her skin was off a shade, there were light bags under her eyes, and her normally strong scent of rose oil, clove, with a hint of vanilla was very weak and over come by a nasty scent. It's what Natsu likes to call the "Sick" scent because to him, someone that was sick literally reeked of being sick.

"Right Natsu?"

He missed her smell, her touch, her hugs, her —

"Natsu?" Lucy's voice pulled him from his thoughts. He was staring right into her chocolate brown eyes, "Lisanna was telling me how you beat those guys. Sounds like you guys made a fantastic team." Lucy then took her eyes off of him and smiled at Lisanna. It then smacked him in the face, he had spaced out, but not only spaced out. He had been looking directly at Lucy for 10minutes while lost in thought.

_Shit. Lisanna probably feels weird now.._

_That was awkward.._

_Why was he staring at me like that?_

If you guys don't mind I'm going to head to bed and hopefully be up and about tomorrow!" The blonde mage smiled brightly at Lisanna and Natsu as they started walking out of the room, "I'll catch up with you more tomorrow." Lisanna nodded happily for her friend, wanting her to feel better as soon as possible.

"Feel better ya hear." Lisanna gave her one more hug.

"Yeah, feel better Lucy.." Natsu was already gone.

Without thinking Lucy grabbed Lisanna's arm, "Is everything okay Lisanna?"

Taken aback, the take over Mage stared at her wide-eyed confused at to what was going on.

"You seem rather..." She wasn't sure how to put it, "Bothered."

Suddenly Lisanna's facial features melted into a smile that reminded Lucy highly of Mira. It obviously runs in the family that their smiles can make anyone feel at ease.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just extremely tired." Lucy let go and nodded, returning a warm smile. She started to slowly close the door behind her then stopped. "Thank you Lucy." The door shut before the young Mage could say anything else.

_What could she possibly be thanking me for? Poor Lisanna..._

Laying down in the bed and staring out the window, she wanted nothing more then to sleep right then. Seeing Natsu and her hurt, but knowing he had left her after breaking his promise to her to go on a mission with just Lisanna, really hit home. Behind her in the chair Loki materialized knowing his master wanted to sleep. He was going to watch her to make sure she was alright and if she needed anything, he would be right there.

With the window open a tad bit, a small breeze helped Lull Lucy into a deep slumber.

* * *

><p>She had even invited him to stay at her house tonight and yet he declined. He stayed with Lucy every night so what was so bad about her place? He had insisted that he wanted to be alone tonight.<p>

_Natsu, wanting to be alone to think? Something is definitely bothering him..._

Entering her own house, the sun had already cast itself down over the hill shading Magnolia. Her house was quite small with two rooms, a kitchen in the living room, and one bathroom. Mira and Lisanna shared a room while Elfman got the other room. Elfman thought it was UN-manly to have a guy sleep in the same room as his sisters.

She stepped into her room which was a light teal color with a desk, a queen bed, a small closet, and a bookshelf which Mira had given her as a birthday gift last year and also to celebrate her return to Earthland.

The silver haired Fairy Tail member threw on some Pajamas and crawled into bed with her new book she had gotten in Hosenka.

_Unlocking Secrets by: Kenji Akuma_

When she had been in the bookstore, this book seemed to call to her and when she touched it, she immediately bought it. She had only read a few pages in, but those few pages talked about how to accumulate her true potential as a Take Over Mage. She wanted nothing more then to become stronger, like Lucy was constantly managing to do.

Before getting lost in her book she paused thinking about when Lucy had stopped her from leaving the hospital room. Lucy had been concerned about Lisanna's better being even after being as sick as Mira had described, Lucy still worried for her. She wasn't stupid and most likely already figured out the sliver hair girls infatuation with Natsu. _I hated lying to Lucy like that, but she worries to much as it is.._

Sighing, she set her thoughts a side and focused on the book in front of her. Reading it she became more involved with what the words said and without even realizing it, the dark pinch was back, but this time it implanted itself into her heart to stay there. Waiting to make its move.

* * *

><p>Racking his brain was exhausting him. Never once had Natsu ever racked his brain so badly before to try and figure things out. Happy had already passed out next to him completely unaware to everything.<p>

_So care free little buddy._

The Dragon Slayer smirked as he stared up coming face-to-face with glow-in-the-dark stars. He started smiling as he began to reminisce of when he put those up there for her.

It was Lucy's first year with the guild and to surprise her he was going to take her to a lights festival that could be seen the best from the hill top outside Magnolia.

The light festival was to celebrate the falling of the stars each year. Ancients said that once a year stars fall from the sky and venture onto Earthland for one purpose, but each purpose depends on the star and the person who catches it falling. If you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the star actually falling, that star is said that it will find you and grant you any wish except the wish of death. The wish of death was labeled a taboo within the legend because only one person has ever been heard of to have wished for it, but after that he disappeared.

So late that evening, Natsu had brought her up to the hill only to have it ruined by a fire some idiot waiting for the stars had started. It hit one tree then raged on like dominoes until Natsu could completely inhale it while Lucy helped douse the wildfire with Aquarius. By the time everything was cleaned up everyone up on that hill had all missed the falling stars.

She had been so bummed because she had always heard about the stars, but her father never took her to see them. He was always too busy with paper work or a money issue and she was way to young when her mom was alive. To help make his Celestial Mage feel better he had made stars from a clear metal material(with the help of Gajeel) and used this special paint, that he had finally found after weeks of searching, that was infused with a lacrima to help it glow in the dark after it was applied to the surface he was going to paint it to. After he finished with the stars, he then jumped through her window and started sticking them to the ceiling with Happy's help.

When she had returned home the next night from the guild, still completely bummed about the stars, she walked into her apartment in awe, completely amazed at the ceiling and like always; He had been sitting on her bed with Happy grinning at her showing off his fangs. _"Happy Birthday Lucy!"_

Looking at the stars now it felt like he had done it for her yesterday. He wanted nothing more then to huddle against her tonight and fall asleep with his arms around her like he always managed to do. He wanted to say he was sorry, so sorry that he had broken a promise.

He cringed picturing something he rarely ever saw; Hurt in Lucy's eyes. After that image entered his mind, it didn't plan on leaving. This image managed to stick him with another restless night WHICH wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't in her apartment... Without her.

_Could it really get any worse?_ He grumbled shoving his face in her pillow, which intoxicated him instantaneously.

_Rose oil, clove, and a hint of vanilla._ Obviously, it could.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes: **I want to thank you loyal readers for definitely being patient with me! Having my best friend home finally after 5 months has got me all over the place. My days have been packed with crazy adventures, but after getting home. I sat down and started typing and didn't stop until 7:30 a.m! I know, what a screwed up sleep schedule, right? :p oh, well. But, I did it for all you readers with your unbelievable support! :p I've been racking my mind like crazy, deciding how I want to end this ;3 Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D

**Special Thanks to: Senbei x Cup Ramen:** Thank you for understanding :3 I tried to keep it a little spiced up, but sometimes it is just SO difficult! Most FanFics I read they make Lisanna the bad girl that hates everyone, I finally wanted there to be one where she wasn't TOO bad of a character. I'm glad you don't hate her, means it did a good job! :D And thank you so much, it took a little bit to come up with, but I'm so happy you like it!  
><strong>strongvalencia petals:<strong> I'm so happy to hear that you 'Love, Love, Love, Love it'! And yes, I adore writing, but I've been a little caught up in life lately! So please, don't huuuurt me for slow updates D; Everything will be revealed in time though :3  
><strong>strongSelaphia:<strong> /Most definitely, but he'll make it through them! I mean when you have Lisanna(who he grew up with and magically came back to like) and then Lucy(a girl who entered his life, became his partner and showed so much compassion and support) How could he not have girl troubles? :p  
><strong>Liatris-san:<strong> Thank you! :D To hear that so many people enjoy my Fic make it so much easier to keep writing! I'm trying to evenly balance all sides, it does get a little tricky sometimes though :3 And most of the time that I'm writing these chapters, it's between 2-7 in the morning, so please bear with my mistakes And Others/span ~ **strongpetpermin**t, **babyMaya14**, and **LadyDeath101**

**Disclaimer: **Hiro Mashima rules.

* * *

><p>"Come at me again Lucy. Try harder this time." Loki jumped back, dodging a fatal punch, from his master and waited patiently for her next attack. She huffed as she walked around him examining everything about the situation. It had been a few days since she had finally gotten better, but now she needed to brush up on her magic. Having been out of the game for a week and a half, just to be safe, had caused her to get a little rusty since the sickness had taken a lot out of her. Not just physically, but mentally as well.<p>

_Be smart Lucy. Be smart._ She encouraged herself, _You can do this. Just one hit like before_

The Celestial Mage knew damn well that Loki was expecting her same move from before and accepted that she had to come up with something completely new to hit him. Studying her spirit counterpart, she circled him before attacking. Lucy had to get behind him, that was, so far, his only obvious weak spot.

Swiftly dashing forward, she swung her fist, which Loki easily avoided. Quickly changing strategies, she flipped into a handstand, kicking the soles of her feet towards the spirits chest, missing by inches. Lucy gritted her teeth as she landed on her feet and without hesitation shot forward with amazing speed, diving headfirst into Loki. Loki, underestimating his Master's speed, jumped into the air to avoid the attack at last second, leaving a two second opening. Lucy landed belly down on the ground and slid a few paces under his feet as he hopped over her. Taking advantage of those two seconds, she grabbed her Fleuve d'étoiles with her right arm and whipped it around Loki's leg.

Before he had any chance to react, she snapped her arm back as hard as she could, sending him flying towards her. As he shot passed her in the air, she used the momentum of his body movement to pull herself up onto her feet giving her the stability to whip him, once again, back at her. She prepared her left fist with magic as he came flying at her. She quickly prepared for impact as she started to swing her fist, but not noticing it, Loki had managed to flip his body to face her just in time to catch her fist and land on her, capturing her against the ground. Making this what felt like her 100th failed attempt to lay one hit on him.

_I can't even lay one fucking hit on him today..._ But then again he is, after all Master in hand to hand combat and the strongest zodiac out of the twelve. Perhaps the other day had just been an off day for the lion spirit.

She sighed as Loki had still not gotten off of her after what seemed like two minutes.

"You almost had me on that one, your speed has increased, but you left yourself open when you pushed the magic into your hand." He was staring intently into her eyes.

"You don't have to explain this while on top of me Loki." She turned her head away from him to look at this little green sprout that was growing next to her head.

Loki's face softened as he examined the outline of her face. Even after getting over the sickness, she still looked tired. He knew she had cried a few more times before she went to bed a few nights ago. He knew how badly it hurt her that Natsu had broken a promise, but now Lisanna had been around Natsu a lot more.

At first, it was the same as usual, but then she had started asking Natsu to constantly be her partner. Her reasoning was that she worked better on her magic when she had someone extremely motivated near her. Natsu would hesitate, look at Lucy as if asking for permission and Lucy would do nothing but smile kindly at him then reassure him that it was completely okay if he went on missions with other people.

But deep down, Loki could feel the hurt raising in his Master the more and more Natsu would go off on missions with Lisanna and less with her. Since getting better, Lucy had taken two jobs by herself to help pay for rent because each time she had wanted to pair up with The Strongest Team in Fairy Tail, Natsu was always missing. Mira would tell her he was off on another mission with Lisanna. Sometimes it would last for 2 days and sometimes it would be 4 or 5 before he would be home for a day, then gone again.

Erza and Gray both felt for her as she did for them because without Natsu, The Strongest team wasn't complete. They all needed each other for different reasons because they were all a big asset to the team, specializing in different ways.

Lucy was great for helping Wendy patch everyone up when they were beat up. Erza was normally the brains behind finding the weakness in the opponent and would share her knowledge. Gray and Natsu helped complete each other because their powers were polar opposites. First Gray and Natsu would barge in and attack, letting Erza battle when needed to give her time to observe the opponent. Finally being able to physically give the team something, Lucy would back Erza up with whatever she had planned. It was the perfect 4 person combination. 5 included when they took Wendy with them on the more difficult missions. Happy proved to be helpful when scouting needed to be done. His flight ability let the team have an idea of what they were up against. So all in all, the team was ideal for any guild.

_The Perfect Team._

But now, Natsu had been too busy with helping Lisanna, that Erza, Gray, Wendy, and Lucy all took other jobs to keep everything balanced. Erza and Gray were teamed up at the moment doing some top secret mission for Master Makarov while Wendy was off working on training with her new Dragon Slayer abilities which left Lucy behind.

Loki could see the lines on her face where she hadn't slept. He wanted so badly to touch her face and caress her cheek just to let her be reassured that someone was there for her, but he knew very well that there was a fine line between Master and spirit. He was not willing to cross it. Yet, If ever given the chance.

Lost in thought he hadn't seen her beautiful chocolate colored irises observing him.

"It's okay to get off of me now Loki; I'm obviously not going to attack anymore." She had reached her limit for the day and was ready for a break.

"Right, I'm sorry." He stumbled a bit as he stood up, holding his hand out for her to use. She took his hand and popped herself up, dusting herself off.

"Let's go see what's going on at the guild today." She smiled ever so kindly at him before turning towards the path to Magnolia. He watched her golden blonde hair glow from the late afternoon sunshine and sway in the cool breeze as she walked.

_I wish you would talk to me Lucy. I wish you would confide in me. I love you so much and it pains me to see you fighting with yourself mentally. I'm so sorry that I can't do more for you._

* * *

><p>Being the first day of the new year, all of the guild members were either:<p>

One, Hung-over and not at the guild today or Two, Still drinking.

Whichever it was the guild was quiet except for Cana, who was still drinking with Bickslow, Freed, and Laxus. Evergreen was barely waking up to start bickering at Elfman for passing out after having less drinks then a woman. Her argument was, He was not proving to be manly enough because he could not out drink her, causing them to get into a drinking contest.

The request board was extremely slow, Lucy had noticed as she sat down at the bar.

"I didn't see you in here last night for the New Year's festival Lucy." Mira had stacks of glasses still piled up, but she cheerfully greeted Lucy.

"I needed to sleep some more last night, my last request I took had taken a lot of energy." She smiled at the long silver haired Mage, "I'll definitely join in next time though!"

"That's what I like to hear! You are, after all, part of the family. Levy was wishing you were here last night so bad too. Make sure you see her some time." Mira winked as she hung one glass up to dry, only to pick up another to start cleaning it. "Oh! That reminds me, Master wishes to see you. He didn't mention what it was about, but he told me to tell you." Lucy tilted her head in curiosity.

"Hmm, Alright, I'll head up there now. Thanks!" Lucy hopped off the bar stool and headed upstairs to the master quarters. Taking one swift look at Loki before he glimmered away in gold, as he always does when he ventures back into the spirit realm to rest.

The Blonde Celestial Mage knocked on the double doors once before hearing him give her the okay to step in. It was a room the size of her apartment with bookshelves everywhere, loaded with books and a desk sat on the left side adjacent to a window seat that over looked the ocean. Lucy had only been in here once before when she first joined Fairy Tail. Master only pulled you into his quarters if it was a private matter.

"Ah Lucy, Welcome." The old Mage stood on the window seat overlooking the ocean, turning around to smile at the young blonde, "Come. Sit. I have important matters to talk to you about." Lucy accepted his offer and sat down on the window seat staring intently as Makarov began to pace his office.

"Do you have any idea where or what Erza and Gray are doing for me?" She shook her head, "Well, I'm going to share with you, but you must not tell anyone." Waiting for her to nod and agree, he paused.

She was taken back for a moment by his request, but respectfully nodded understanding that this was all top secret.

"They are out in Bosco. The far, FAR, reaches of Bosco researching something I discovered in the last week." Lucy sat there stunned. They would be gone for at least a month, meaning another two weeks.

Bosco was the country East of Fiore. They were the archive central for any country on Earthland, Housing every article ever written in history about any Mage, event, birth, death. It was called the Archive of Magi, but in making such an archive, the ancients needed protection. Thus, the forgotten pit of souls was created.

It is said to be a large sand pit that sucked anyone in that was walking, without even realizing it until it's too late. After they'd been sucked it, the sand starts to eat away and chisel the body down to nothing but grains of sand, making him or her a part of the sand. It was also recorded that after someone gets sucked in, anyone associated with that person starts to forget he or she ever existed. Leaving that person completely forgotten

he pit was originally created by the ancients of Bosco to keep away invaders who wanted to try and sneak up on their city of Loyvet (which is the only city in that country, located on the border of Jevilla and Bosco). Tantalizing a mages brain with mirages, that mage would continue to travel farther into the sand pit, forgetting his or her mission. Having that person erased from existence kept the other countries from blaming them for someone disappearing. It was the perfect scheme.

Until it got out of hand and continued to grow, until it consumed the entire West entrance of Bosco leaving only one way in and out of Loyvet. If those traveling knew of the Forgotten Pit of Souls they would have had to take a roundabout through Seven (North of Fiore), cross the country of Lijka into Jevilla, and follow it to the Border. But over the years a one way train to and from had been built to take travelers straight through all three countries.

"Even with a train straight through, it would still take ample time, so Lucy wasn't sure why the Master was telling her all of this.

"Lately, I have felt a disturbance among my family Lucy. I have only ever felt this disturbance once before and that was when Purehito, you know him as Hades, ex-guild master of Grimoire Heart, was guild Master of Fairy Tail." He continued to pace in a slow timely manner, keeping his hands clasped together behind his back and his cloak drooping onto the floor, "I felt this presence that once when he had passed the title on to me. He left and that presence disappeared, until now. I feared it would happen again so over the years I dug into what it could possibly be.

"To double check my findings, I've sent Erza and Gray to the Archive of Magi to see if there was ever such a thing. Erza finally sent word today about their findings, reassuring me that I've been right for so long." Lucy held a confused stare still not sure what he was getting at.

"Master, what can I do? It sounds like Erza and Gray have it covered." Lucy watched the shadow on the floor slowly descend indicating the sun was quickly setting.

"They are taking care of things over there, but I need someone here. Their findings concluded that emAkuma/em has returned and is back to take his revenge on the guild." He stood still and sternly stared at the young Celestial Mage. She was now standing.

_"Akuma_, Are you sure…?" She sounded troubled.

"Yes and it wasn't until Erza sent her message did I know for sure. I didn't want to believe it, but now I have no other choice. He is here already and he has already done what I have feared…" His voice got low.

"What?"

"He has already taken a host."

Lucy fell down to the side on the window seat and her voice was quiet, "A host...?"

"Yes, one of our guild members, I'm afraid. From what Erza and Gray have uncovered, he lost his body when he disappeared last and turned into nothing but a Soul Leecher just waiting for the right moment and person." He rubbed his head in frustration, "From what I can sense, he is unaware that we know of him and is just residing in his host until he is stronger.

"In Erza's message she informed me of everything I was missing, How he got here, what his mission is, and how he died." Lucy watched her Master as he began his tale.

"In his Human form he was known as Yuriko or known as the very first Wizard Saint. His magic was originally take over and his ability to use it was incredible, so incredible he gained the title of the first Wizard Saint, but even so after time others began to rival him, leading the title of Wizard Saint into the Ten Wizard Saints, stripping him of his spot at the top. Eventually, rage and hate consumed his heart as he began to convince himself that only he should be the most powerful. He tried to bring it to the council multiple times, but he was ignored every chance he tried. He sunk into darkness and started to study the ways of Dark Magic. He learned to manipulate and torment souls inside of a Mages body and when he found out he had potential for more, he began raising an army of what we called hellions. These beasts were said to have been huge, bulky, black monsters that dripped blood wherever they walked so that when the councilmen tried to find Yuriko, all they had to do was follow the trail." Lucy sat there, stunned by what her ears were capturing and sick to her stomach thinking about what it would be like to face a beast like that, "Therefore he gained the nickname that means Devil, _Akume."_

_Can one Mage really be SO powerful to manipulate souls and even raise the dead and STILL have enough magic to fight...  
><em>  
>"The only wizard that stood up to him successfully was the second wizard saint, Ojitoyu who had the ability to manipulate light in anyway he saw fit, human and nonhuman a like. With their powers clashing as complete opposites, The battled raged in the Kingdom of Pergrande which happened to fall on the day Purehito left the guild, naming me the third guild master," He paused and stared out at the night sky as if remembering a long lost memory, "Erza added all they had left in the Archives of the catastrophe. Ojitoyu matched Yuriko hit for hit and their powers of being the top two Wizard Saints caused a rip in space which consumed everything within a 500mile radius. The rip even effected the Forgotten Pit of Souls by feeding it enough magic from the after shock to expand it to it's South neighboring country, Hue, completely devouring it, making Bosco and Hue one country. Everything disappeared and the Kingdom of Pergrande was abandon in fear that something might cause the rip to open again."<p>

"But wait... there is a city over there now. The biggest city in all of Earthland. Does that mean that something caused a small tear enough for him to leak out as a Spirit Leecher?" Makarov nodded at her assumption.

"Now, from everything else I have gathered. He is after the council and the rest of the Ten Wizard Saints. He wants to take revenge on what happened in the past. The issue we have now is that he has attached himself to one of our family. If that members' pessimism rules over their ability to judge and notice the good things, we could lose him or her. Lucy, I need you to help me stop this from happening again." Makarov stared intently on his only Celestial Mage. She still wasn't sure what she could do, "You along with Erza and Gray will have to do this."

_Wait, but.. That's the strongest team, except Natsu...  
><em>  
>"Master, I know you understand that Natsu has been going on other partnerships with Lisanna, but should we really keep him out of this...?" Lucy racked her brain trying to understand her Master's motives.<p>

_It makes no sense...  
><em>  
>"Lucy, we can't involved him until we know he can be trusted. Surely you've sensed it..."<p>

_No Way.. He wouldn't.._

"Lisanna is the host."

_What..._


	5. Chapter 5: part1

I want to thank all of my dedicated readers for being patient with me. I have had things going on in my life that have led me astray from writing. This chapter is short, but I felt that I needed to post something to let you guys know there is more to come very soon and that I'm still continuing to write this. Again, thank you all so much and I hope you continue to read and enjoy it just as much as before :) I'm so very sorry for such a long departure; Enjoy!  
>Disclaimer:Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail in all shapes and size<p>

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><p>He felt utterly helpless and pathetic wanting nothing more than to finally confront Lucy and explain what happened, but soon when she started going off to train with Loki, Lisanna got into a persistent attitude of asking him to accompany her with missions so she could get stronger. Being the dimwit he knows he can be, he thought going on missions would help ease the pain. Wrong. It just made it worse.<p>

Everywhere he went, he saw her, causing the guilt to rage like a fire consuming his every action, until finally three weeks after tremendous amounts of lost sleep and endless guilt, he decided to end this escapade. His team needed him and Lisanna could always find someone else to mission with, like her brother, Elfman.

Lisanna had now been standing in front of him at the bar with a mission paper in her hand for several minutes, chatting up a storm with Happy and Mira about the next game plan.

"No." The three of them froze as if they just heard the worst news on the planet.

"I'm sorry, what?" Normally, if someone denied Lisanna, she would nod her head and understand, agreeing to doing something next time around, but Natsu saw something different for that split second. It was deeper and darker than anything Natsu had noticed with her before. He could have sworn that he heard a slight challenge in her tone.

"I said no, now excuse me Lisanna, Mira, and Happy. I have to go find someone." Natsu turned to leave and felt the Aura around Lisanna change from a light color to a deep violet against his back, "We'll go on one again together soon." He nodded to them both looking at them over his shoulder catching Lisanna's eye before running out the door.

"Hmm. That's odd, Natsu never turns down a mission." Mira sighed and turned to Laxus who was leaning over the balcony staring at Lisanna intently before catching Mira's gaze, "Has Master returned yet?"

"No, not yet, but rest assured you'll be the first to know." With that he stalked off into Master's office deep in thought, taking one more glance at Lisanna. Mira patted her on the back knowing what she was feeling; about to comfort her with sisterly words and love, a crash rang out throughout the guild, Mira apologized quickly as she rushed off to investigate the noise.

Lisanna stood with Happy next to her on the bar staring off at the traces of Natsu. She knew where he was going, she knew who he was searching for, and she knew that he had finally made up his mind.

Lucy.

Without even having to say her name, frustration, anger, and hate arose in the Take Over Mage. Three emotions she had vowed years ago never to feel due to the atrocious power it could release if not controlled properly, but she didn't care. Not now, not anymore. For too long she sat in the back watching, but never being chosen. Mira, Cana, Levy, Bisca, and now Lucy. Someone who hasn't even been with the guild that long and yet she had someone after her. She refused to deny her feelings any longer. A deep, soothing voice chimed in her head confirming her new feelings.

_It's alright my lovely Lisanna, let it consume you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling jealous. Go get what is rightfully yours. You had him first, but then that blonde just busted in. Go on..._

The words lingered on her brain, but soon she just had one goal in mind. She had to get Natsu. She wanted him, only him and would hurt, no, kill the blonde Celestial Mage to get him to see her, only her. Was death going to far? Lisanna no longer believed anything was to far for something she wanted.

Uncharacteristically, the slightly corrupted Mage placed her hand on Happy's head, "You know Happy, I want to go on a walk, care to join me?" his little body slumped in her hand and she cradled him close to her as she walked from the guild. Slowly letting the darkness seep under her skin like poison spreading through her body.


	6. Chapter 5: part2

Alright! I have a special treat for you guys, this time for being so patient, this is my longest one so far. Life has been crazy lately since my sister came back from Chicago for a visit, my best friend will be home from the Navy, work has been firing a bunch of people so I've worked(64hr in two weeks x.x), and my birthday is coming up so I'm planning for that. This chapter took me a little longer to write because I'm getting into the good stuff and I needed to think up how it was all going to tie together. I've been stuck on this chapter for the last week and a half trying to decide where to take it. This is the final copy! I do hope you guys continue to enjoy and read, I'll update a chapter for those who have reviewed and Favorited, but this is already long enough. It'll be coming up! I hope to continue to hear from you guys I love it more then you know! Enjoy!  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail in all shapes and size

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><p>It was only the first week of February and the freezing temperatures had already passed, allowing the beginning of spring to bloom. Having spring blossom so early meant it was going to be a good year in Fiore for crops, the breeze, and all the festivities. Spring weather showing through months early was a sign it was going to last, at least, until mid-June, a good omen that kept the sweltering heat of summer extremely short. No one enjoyed the heat since it brought bugs and sticky weather, so Fiore always had festivities planned to celebrate the wonderful extended period of spring.<p>

As the breeze hit the blonde Mage's face, she couldn't help but sigh. Her anger she had held against Natsu about breaking his promise had diminished and now it had turned into longing of just having her dear best friend back. It didn't help any that the sunflower had grown so large that Lucy had to have it replanted on her window sill so it could continue to live and bask in unlimited sunlight. Having a permanent fixture outside for everyone to see, she saw it even just passing by becoming a sign of the boy she missed so much.

"Master, you're distracted again." Capricorn's voice interrupted her thoughts, "Is it the young Dragon Slayer?"

"Please, I've told you several times before call me Lucy. We're friends, aren't we?" She smiled up at her Spiritual mentor. The sun was dipping down in the sky casting a shadow on the Ram's face as he stared at her intently behind his dark sunglasses, "And thanks for the lessons this afternoon. I know master would be pleased to know of my progress whenever he gets back." Capricorn smiled and bowed before she closed his gate.

More than anything she hated her Spirits worrying about her over such a trivial matter, so in preference, Lucy always kept it short if any of them asked about Natsu.

_I wonder what he's doing right now. Probably another mission with Lisanna… _The Celestial Mage thought as she followed the hidden stone path down from the mountains that lead into the back entrance of Fiore's conservatory. Master had convinced the Gate Keeper of the Conservatory somehow to allow him to build a path from the back all the way up to this grassy noel, halfway concealed under the roof of the trees, leading into the mountains just for Lucy and her spirits. Laxus, Mira, and Levy were the only ones that knew of its location, so the blonde thought of this area as her safe haven away from reality.

"Finally…" the voice caught her off guard as she stared straight ahead, stopping in her tracks already halfway down the mountain, "I'd been searching for you all afternoon and let me tell you, it took a whole lot of convincing for Levy to tell me where find you."

An out of breath fire breathing, spiky salmon pink haired mage was leaning against a tree giving her a goofy grin.

Natsu.

It took a second to rekindle her stature as she was waiting for Lisanna to run up behind him, but when minutes ticked by it was clear that it was just Lucy and a now steadily breathing Natsu on the path.

_What's he doing here? He might be here to talk about some new mission he's about to go even bother me with it now? _"Another mission you've accepted? A big bounty this time, hopefully." A few birds chirped.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you." He straightened himself out fixing the dragon scale scarf around his neck, once again concealing the light pink scar on the right side of his neck.

"I'm heading back home to rest some; I've been at it all afternoon with Loki then Capricorn. Good luck on your mission anyway, you guys make a great team." Her fake smile did no justice when the last sentence snapped off her tongue emphasizing the word great, as if to sting him. The female Fairy Tail Mage heard a sigh escape his lips when she turned to walk past him to continue down to Fiore, but forced to stop advancing when she felt a tug at her arm. Lucy turned and looked down at Natsu's left hand clutching her wrist. Despite his hand being rough and hot from his fire ability, his grip was gentle indicating no harm or threat. _Why Natsu…?_

"Please Lucy… Hear me out." She shouldn't have made eye contact when she did because now the Celestial Mage couldn't move. His dark eyes were pleading with hers to listen and being the friend she was to him, Lucy couldn't deny him. The Dragon Slayer adjusted his stance to where he was still holding her wrist, but holding his ground looking straight into her chocolate brown eyes. "I'm sorry. Really."

"I've been avoiding you and ignoring you when I shouldn't have. I just kept disappearing without saying anything to you, let alone Hi." His eyes shifted away for a split second trying to think of what to say, "I'm not the best person at this kind of thing and I don't think I ever will be, but give me a chance. A while ago I broke a promise. Completely unintentionally and then the mission with Lisanna making me look like an absolute Jerk."

_Where is this going… _

"You're my best friend, my partner, and we help complete the best team. The missions with Lisanna were to kill time and I thought they would help, but in the end I just asked myself who I was kidding," He paused letting go of Lucy's wrist, "No one, I learned that I don't like being away from the person who I enjoy going on mission's with, the person I enjoy just lying next to at night, and the person who helps me focus more. I want to make it up to you, just let me and you won't be disappointed. I know I shouldn't have to ask in the first place, but I am sorry Lucy."

Through his entire speech, Lucy had been trying so hard to focus and figure out why out of the blue he was approaching her like this; it wasn't like him to just spill his feelings. Then it hit. Something so important, how could she ever have forgotten?

_Master's room was a little more dusty than normal, as if he hadn't been spending much time in there "Lucy, I have to step away for a month, but there are a few important matters I need to discuss." He seemed deep in thought contemplating where to start. He cleared his throat as Lucy sat down on the window seat, "One, congrats on your last mission. I heard great things about you and a lot of higher up missioners who would love to hire you, but I'm not letting them hire you without a small... side fee." The old Mage chuckled to himself giving the blonde a small wink, before his face got serious. _

"_Secondly, Be careful around Lisanna and Natsu. I've sensed a damaged aura on her lately, but it's very subtle so I can't be certain of anything right now. I have Laxus watching over her, so if anything gets out of hand he can be there to help you out." Exhaustion crept under his eyes as he continued to speak, "Natsu has been around her quite a lot lately, as you might have noticed, and soon enough there will come a time, knowing him, when he'll tire of it. With my understanding of how a leecher works, I'm more than positive that that's when Akuma will start to slowly attach strings onto her soul. Her frustration in Natsu leaving her will cause an opening that he will more than gladly push through and stay. Within the time, depending on how Natsu acts towards her and you will cause his growth."_

"_Master, if this leecher does get loose completely and controls her, what would happen..?"_

"_You no longer become his main target, but he'll use you as an advantage." He paused glancing out the window, hesitating before continuing to talk, "Lucy, you do realize that you are only one of a few Celestial Mages left, right? No one believes in Spirits like you do and they throw them away like they are useless and powerless" The young blonde glanced at her ring of keys remembering all the times they've saved her and how much they all rely on her just as much as she relies on them, "You wield their power like no one else has, no one else like you or your mother." His eyes got soft as he spoke of the deceased celestial Mage._

"_After he has control of Lisanna, he will feed off of her magic source and try to control you to get to the council since you are now such a rare, extremely strong commodity to this world, let alone an extremely powerful connection to the Spirit World, which holds enormous amounts of power. Train with Capricorn on how to protect your mind because if you don't Akuma will have no problem taking you over. I don't know how much time we have left before this happens, but rest assured I will have Laxus and Mira update me on any changes in her status. Be wary Lucy, always watch your back and remember, you have family here who will gladly watch it if you can't." With that he had grabbed his stave, led her out of the room, and stalked down the dark hallway until he was outside. He turned around, smiled at Lucy, and gave her the traditional Fairy Tail sign, pointing to the sky with his index figure._

"An answer would be awesome…" seconds ticked by as Lucy regenerated her consciousness to the present. Apparently from the look in the fire breather's eyes, he had asked an important request that she blatantly ignored. Immediately becoming more aware of the situation, she recognized this as a danger waiting to happen if Lisanna saw and turned her expression into a passive look.

Not even knowing what he said, she replied with "I don't think it's such a good idea." Within her daze he had managed to hold her hands again, so she just yanked them from him and turned once again, facing the pathway to Fiore.

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><p>He was not going to let her slink by him again. For the second time, Natsu stepped forward reaching for Lucy. Unaware of the rock before him, the Dragon Slayer's foot snagged on the rock crashing him into the Celestial Mage knocking her over sending them both tumbling down the rest of the path.<p>

The dust that had followed the two Fairy Tail Mages down had cleared leaving him completely disoriented until he was staring up into Lucy's eyes. Even through all the mess, the breeze had picked up her scent perfectly causing his heart to race.

Her intoxicating rose oil, clove, and a hint of vanilla, but only slightly peeking through the mask of sweat that emanated from her body.

Natsu felt his heart pounding against his chest, wanting to burst at any moment. Now was the perfect time to do what he had always planned in some fashion, but never had the courage previously to do so. Lisanna had always gotten in the way or Lucy had shown no interest. From the snap in her voice earlier, he had caught on how she felt, but only in the slightest. No matter what it was, he could sense it in her that she missed him just as much as he missed her.

Growing up without any real emotional guidance, the Dragon slayer had always had to fend for his own and figure out things as they went. Lisanna was the easiest to figure out since she always seemed to cling to him. At first it was just the way he thought she was with all her friends, but observing her closer showed otherwise. She loved him, but not once had he ever reciprocated the feelings. Then along came Lucy.

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy.

Beautiful blonde hair, deep chocolate brown eyes, and an attitude that just tested everything to its limits. Of course, she hadn't always been that way, but it was her determination into becoming a Fairy Tail Mage that drew him to her friendship and so, thus, he brought her to join Fairy Tail.

Natsu knew he hadn't quite acknowledged and accepted his feelings towards this young female mage until after their trip to Edolas. Seeing another side of Lucy made him appreciate what he had at home, so he began to study her tactics. Suddenly one afternoon, Natsu had observed that Lucy had begun to mature in her strengths being the Celestial Key barer, pushing herself to ungodly limits to succeed in missions with the team, and let herself become closer to him and open up to him more about who she is, while Lisanna showed the same childhood persistency of being in love with him with no change of attitude, strength, or courage. He, himself, didn't know much about love until he had asked Mira and that's when she explained everything he needed to know to figure out what to do.

After that, he reached out to Lucy mentally accepting this new found thing called love and started sharing his stories about growing up with her, but with Lisanna around him all the time he couldn't act completely on his feelings. The fire breather distanced himself enough for the silver haired Mage to notice he wasn't interested. Which the Take Over mage did, immediately. Not only was Lisanna becoming a hand full with constantly asking him why he was becoming distant, Lucy become more difficult to read as she grew stronger and more aware, but nonetheless, he remained by her side waiting in the shadows of his feelings for the right moment.

2 years had already come and gone gaining her recognition in all ranks and guilds, especially being a part of the strongest team in Fairy Tail, Becoming one of the most known Celestial Mages in Fiore (A small detail Makarov definitely took pride in) and immediately Natsu had sensed jealously raging through Lisanna. He made it a priority to become better friends with her so she wasn't feeling left out or alone and the times he paid attention to Lisanna, he'd sneak glimpses at his Blonde Mage, yet she never budged and kept on smiling at him the way she always had, even when he had gone on missions with just Lisanna.

Now, here he was with his back against the ground and the woman he chose to love leaning over him. Natsu wasn't sure if she was still leaning over him because she wanted to be there or because he was holding her there, but either way, he didn't want her to go away. So he did what he had always wanted to do and started leaning towards her, while holding onto the back of her neck pulling her closer.

His dragon senses were going ballistic as her scent got stronger. Natsu watched her close her eyes, ready to feel her soft lips against his, he swore Lucy could probably feel his heart beating, but froze without hesitation when he felt Lucy's body stiffen. His own eyes darted sensing danger, quickly slipping from under her and standing.

Standing half a mile away from the entrance of the path was Lisanna. Her eyes were its normal grey, but hinted with a shade of red. Instantaneously Natsu sensed something wrong with her aura, it was completely wacked seeping with a black ooze and as seconds ticked by, it only got worse.

"Lisanna?" Natsu hissed crouching low into a pouncing stance, "No, you aren't Lisanna."

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><p>The scene played over and over in her mind like a movie, <em>Natsu was going to kiss Lucy… Why does this hurt so much…<em> and the replay began again. The creature inside her suddenly began to swim around in the pool of her soul.

She loved him so much, hadn't she given him everything? Yet, he had still chosen Lucy. Her heart stung and burned feeling as though she were being ripped in half. Her breathing had become shallow and desolate, as if searching for her lungs. Gasping for breath, Lisanna felt the tears slowly trickle down her cheeks before they became empty tears. Her stomach churned searching for rest, searching for the answers of why. If this scene had played out differently, it wouldn't have hurt as much, right? If Lucy had just talked to her or if Natsu and opened up about his feelings, maybe they wouldn't sting so dreadfully, but why? Why did you hide it from me? Why did you keep it a secret? Am I really just a game?

Question after question raided the poor young silver haired mages mind and whole being. Vengeance soon took over all emotions and sent her into over drive.

_I don't want this… I can't do this… I… I… Hate you. I hate.. you. Natsu. Lucy. So, much. Disappear!_

Invisible hands instinctively grabbed at her soul, and sucked it deep into the empty void that was just created in her heart making her feel as though she were no longer the driver of her own body, but just sitting idle in the passenger seat. That nagging feeling of hate she had felt had cracked just a little bit more, allowing a black ooze to spill from its depths. She no longer could control her body as she watched the void completely empty out its contaminants into her blood stream, her veins, her muscles, and her whole existence. She wanted to fight only to be able to stay in control of her body, but the hands that caressed her were so gentle compared to the pain she had just endured watching, that Lisanna allowed those invisible hands to push her into the void this strange new being had created, encasing her in darkness. Before it completely shut, a deep, soothing voice chimed in:

_Rest now my daughter, you will be at peace now. Resssssst…_


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail in all shapes and size;**

**Senbei x Cup Ramen:** I'm so ecstatic that you like it so much! I feel honored that it's called "epicness. Complete epicness" :3 I try to work very hard to keep that title! Yes, 7:30 a.m. because I try to type and finish a chapter in one sitting. I don't like to dawdle on the thought that I have an unfinished chapter on my computer.

**evergreen dryad:** It's okay if you don't review, I appreciate the follow just as much as the review! Reviews are a bonus, I'll admit. I love reading what you think, but thank you anyway. Nirvana is not part of this story! Sorry! I'm trying to keep everything original, but adding past events as it goes along. Lisanna doesn't know any better then to glomp :p She grew up with the kid and here he is with a new fancier specimen he likes. Who knows how it'll end? Hopefully you'll keep reading :D

**Selaphia:** I'm trying to keep it interesting, It'll get a lot better though, or so I believe . I have all these ideas in my head that are out of order so I'm trying to keep it in order to lead up to the awesomeness coming soon! Haha! I'm quite excited to get to the bigger battles, hopefully I can keep it a continuous update so you wont have to keep recapping x.x

**Xx-Yoko-Littner-xX:** Thank you :D And I'm glad you think so! Interesting is what I like to hear~ or read :p Natsu will get there, he is just a tad bit slow xD And she is a great Villain, but I'm trying not to make it all her.

**HaylieandKaytie:** I was thinking about maybe keeping it heartwarming, but then I was like no... this is Fairy Tail. It needs its action :D

**xAnimeLuv:** I love you photo by the way! :3 Die hart NaLu fan 3 I was never a big fan of Lisanna either(no offense to anyone) But I tried to keep her from being the most hated character in the story. She shouldn't be hated for her crush. I'm really trying to keep updating. But Life! :o

**Anna Whitlinger:** Thank you :D Hopefully you'll continue to read~

l**ord287:** I promise you that I wont leave it in between. I WILL be finishing it, but the most difficult part now is balancing it in between work and school. Hopefully you'll continue to love it :D

**NoemiNalu:** Love the name and pic :D great choice ;D And I don't know if I will have her come back as herself or not, you'll just have to read :3

**spottedfire98:** Updating now my friend! I believe I'm going to start updating more regularly when I don't have homework. I'll make it part of my routine so I don't leave you or anyone else hanging anymore!

**Never again 10:** I'm getting there! Thank you for being patient :3

**Neko-Sky Maiden Wendy:** Wendy! You take a small debut in this one, hope you like! ;D

**ToReachYou:** Please don't rot away! I'm so sorry! NOO. I can't believe I've killed someone T.T COME BACK. and thank you very much :3 I hope I can salvage your lovely heart from the corpse and implant you into a new body to continue living. I need "ToReachYou." ;p (I'm terrible at making puns xp I'm sorry!)

To my little brother: You kept nagging me about updating, thank you. I really needed the motivation. You kept me company even if we didn't talk, you sat on the sofa with me. You reading your manga and I writing this. It was nice to just have that sibling time with you. Thank you so much. Without you and my reviewies, I don't think I would have been able to update. Love you guy :) Thank you!

And others ~ **sk8lyn123, xxKarinChiixx, Crimson Mascara, MirrorThieves, Fuzzy-Duck-01, Audie the gothic alchemist, Kira KuroTenshi, Fan25, Ecspyred, Liquid Twilight, Melindarb, VanillaTwilight4, sonadora3, HanazawaRyuki, 319, revenfett, mimicow10, Anemone Iris Sidera, Frap91, Badger Face, Edolas Natsu, Kitten Frozen in Fire, imagination2805, LinkWarriorInGreen, Eternal Anime Fan, ixburnout, NaLu hanami, melody-carver, sanji-fan, Lolita-chi, PortgasDAva, carolmz, **and** StellarSlayer.**

Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoring, and alerting. Thank you for being patient with me and not giving up on me :) I'm about to start school and work at the same time, so it'll open up some time because I highly doubt that after work or school, I'm going to want to go out. So that frees up my time to work on this lovely piece for you guys. I hope you continue reading and continue liking. All my love for my wonderful readers :3

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><p>Natsu's nose cringed when 'Lisanna' laughed. Having Lisanna's body, didn't mean it was Lisanna's voice that came out. The voice was a deep, cold, and cackled sound that held nothing in the hollows of it. Just an empty sound.<p>

The body of the take-over Mage smelled like death now. Absolutely nothing like the light lavender she always smelled like. Something wasn't right and the Dragon Slayer was completely confused. Within moments of the laugh 'Lisanna' hunched over coughing up this black ooze that melted into the ground killing the flowers that were there seconds before.

"Natsu... We need to go now while he is distracted." Lucy was already tugging at his arm pulling him around the side of the conservatory, "We can't take him on by ourselves."

_Him? Who is she talking about? _The pink haired mage kept getting more furious by the moment, but he nodded trusting Lucy's judgement and ran a head of her towards the guild. Turning back one more time, he got a glimpse of 'Lisanna' standing up and smiling at them. No, catching her now blackened and hazed eyes, whatever it was, was staring directly and him. Staring into his soul touching the reaches Natsu didn't even want to go.

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><p>All he got running away with Lucy was chills. Fairy Tail never ran from a fight, but this... This was a whole new level. That's why Lucy had urged him to run because she knew something he didn't.<p>

"Lucy, What is going on?" Natsu hissed when they were a safe distance away. Almost reaching the guild. "What happened back there? You seemed to know quite a lot abo-"

"Laxus!" The blonde Mage gave him a total shut down on his questioning as the Master's Grandson appeared in a flash of light with Mira next to him.

"Are you both alright?" Mira quickly scoped them both out to see if any damage had been done and then froze, "And... Lisanna..?" Natsu heard the drop in her voice as if she knew what had just happened without being there.

"Mira, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I had tried to stay away until we could find a safe way to get it out of her, but Natsu ju-" He had enough of not knowing what was going on and cried out in rage at his so called family.

"I just what, Lucy? Came to talk to you. That's all I did. Now, you better tell me what the hell is going on! You're accusing me of something that I wasn't even aware of. And it's absolute bullshit." He was on fire and absolutely consumed in resentment for his fellow guild members at the moment.

Not even a minute before hand he had witnessed one of his oldest friend reek and change into a creature foreign to him. If that even was a creature. From Lucy's tone and explanation it could have been avoided, but she refused to tell him. In the Dragon Slayer's mind it was now all his fault, but fault to what? Laxus, Mira, and Lucy just stared at him.

"I'm waiting. Lucy." Natsu stood his ground putting emphasis on her name. He was not going to let this go any farther until he knew exactly what he was dealing with.

"Lisanna is infected Natsu." Her voice sunk under his skin. _Infected? _"Master can get into full detail about it when he gets back, but we couldn't have you knowing because of how close you two are. All he would have to do is read through your facial expressions and be able to sense that you knew something. If you didn't know, then you were clueless that he existed. Giving us the upper hand into figuring out how to safely dispose of him."

"Him? Who is him? and what about Mira. How is that Mira is aware of it when she is Lisanna's sister." He felt his anger subside a little bit as he succumbed to reason and listening.

"Yuriko, otherwise now known in history as _Akuma._" Makarov's voice startled them all from behind. Lounging on a bench by the river, there the little Master was, concentrating on something that seemed to be hiding behind his eyelids. "Laxus, Lucy." Natsu observed in admiration that all Makarov had to do was nod, say his children's names and they knew what they had to do.

Lucy held onto Mira's right arm and led her to the guild with Laxus in pursuit, giving his grandfather one more glance.

"You have a hothead, child." He laughed to himself, "So keep calm as I tell you." Natsu sighed as he sat next to the old man. Whatever he was about to be told obviously was not going to make him a happy camper, but if it were to help Lisanna and save his friends from any danger, then he'd have to be very unlike himself, very... Patient.

* * *

><p>"Have you talked to Elfman yet?" Lucy set a hot beverage in front of Mira, trying to console her like she does for everyone else.<p>

"No. Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen wanted him to accompany them on a mission up North to Waas Forest. It'll take a few days minimum." Laxus answered for her, "Head up to the spare room while I talk with Lucy. Master will join you when he gets back in."

It took a few moments before Mira finished her tea then headed upstairs. The entire time her attention was fixated on some unknown point in front of her that had her staring off into the distance with a blank expression.

"When she wakes up the initial shock will be over and she'll be ready for whatever we have to face." Laxus began to pace around the small room.

"Wake up? How do you know she'll sleep? Her sister just became the walking devil." Lucy scoffed at the idea. Mira sleeping at a time like this? They'd be lucky to even snap her out of her haze.

"The tea had a sedative in it. It'll help ease her discomfort and get her into her Satan Soul state mind set if we need it. Mavis only knows if we will or not." Electricity sparked from his ear buds as he started to think.

Poor Mira, she lost Lisanna once or so she had thought and now to have a demon living inside of her, feeding off her energy was just painful to the core. The Celestial Mage finally got the question off her chest, "What now?"

Laxus stared at her, "We'll have to hunt Lisanna down. Gray and Erza have been keeping in touch with what they continue to discover. Right now the host should be at minimal power seeing as he just got some control over the body. He'll have to learn how to Maneuver and work with Lisanna's different forms before he can start harnessing his own power, but depending on how many hosts he's had and the time length between each one... Who knows how fast he'll learn how to use her body and no offense to Lisanna, but she isn't the most powerful so _Akuma_ will have to also learn to work with her limited magic supply without burning her out."

The lightening Mage only having been able to lead the guild for a few weeks already had this catastrophe falling into his hands. It couldn't have been anything simple to start out with, but instead the Devil from the beginning of Magic was reaching out for revenge. Great. Lucy felt bad for him for being previously expelled from the guild then brought back and having this fall on his shoulders. It's as if it were his final punishment for him trying to over throw Makarov several years back. Poor Laxus.

"Old Man should be talking with Natsu about what's going to progress seeing as we'll need his nose. He'll need to be prepared to face Lisanna, no matter the costs. I'm guessing while you were standing there, the fire breather got a good whiff of the Host?" All Lucy could do was nod. Endless possibilities were streaming through her mind chasing after different endings to this fight. They all lead to death.

Death.

Lucy hadn't had tons of death in her lifetime that she'd witnessed, but several she'd come to bare. Both of her parents, but in all that was it. To think about a life without some of Fairy Tail's members mentally stabbed her. Fairy Tail was her home, her life, and her family. Losing people would be tearing a piece of her away as well. It wasn't allowed to happen, it couldn't. Not yet, not now, not ever.

Thinking back on all the battles Fairy Tail had endured, people should have been dying left and right, but they didn't. Each and every guild member was protected by a sacred force. A sacred bond that kept them all attached. They all felt the same pain, they all felt the same happiness, and most of all they shared the same love. Sure there were different kinds of love that fluttered about Fairy Tail, but it was all connected in the end. For that, Lucy loved the guild more than she ever thought she would.

As the hours dragged on and Natsu still hadn't come back with the Master, Lucy had gone to take a nap. All these events in a day after her training left her exhausted and drained of power. Loki, throughout her sleep, had let himself free to watch over her and the door incase someone wanted to disturb her. Even if the blonde mage needed the sleep, she didn't want to because she knew her dreams wouldn't be filled with any happy thoughts tonight.

* * *

><p>"Is that all you've come up with so far?" The last few hours had been nothing but patience and listening to the old man discuss the situation and the game plan to the fire breather.<p>

"Erza and Gray are on their way back soon, we'll be able to carry out the plan then, but for now.. As difficult as it will be. Stay patient and remember what I told you about Lucy." Makarov hopped off the bench, stretched, and headed towards the guild. "She is essential Natsu, remember that."

_Essential to the existence of Mages, I know, but to me she's so much more. _The pink haired Dragon Slayer laid his head in his hands. What a predicament life had thrown at him.

All he had wanted to do was consummate his relationship by just telling Lucy how he felt and with him wanting to do that, help cause this to escalade into something that might become unstoppable losing him his Celestial Mage and/or his oldest friend.

There seemed to be no way to win. Was this really all love was? No. It couldn't be.

In a split second his nose arched up into the air interrupting his thoughts, catching a faint scent of death. First came the smell then came the sound.

It was a low grumble at which progressed in volume until it was a shriek right next to his ear immediately forcing him onto his feet. Spinning around he came face to face with a massive creature that was drooling black ooze. It stood about 3 inches taller than Elfman, leaning on its front two feet to walk like a monkey and its muscles bulged with black veins.

Natsu only got a moments glimpse before it used its front feet to support itself while kicking it's back legs from underneath towards him with massive force. The Dragon Slayer was still in a daze barely escaping the first attack, yet it started running at him with amazing agility for a creature of its mass. All the pink haired mage could do was to run and try to find an opening to attack.

_Shit. Each time I try and turn around to hit it or breathe fire at it, it's right up on me._ _I need to come up with something soon..._

In the corner of his eye he caught sight of an open, empty field, instantaneously averting his course of action to that spot. No one could get hurt and this time the hothead wouldn't have to pay for any damages done if there were no buildings to destroy.

In hot pursuit the beast followed closely almost able to reach out and touch him. Natsu felt his claws scathe the back of his black cloak. Fairy Tail's fire Mage darted forward just a bit faster than before giving the Slayer just enough room to fight back, _**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist**_.

As he skid in the dirt, Natsu spun around 180 forcing his left fist, engulfed in flames, into the face of the oncoming beast. He swore he felt bones crack with as fast as the beast was running. It was completely taken off guard when in impacted into his fist and getting no time to slow down. The force wasn't strong enough to fly the beast backwards, but due to the shear bulk of it, Natsu was pushed back instead with his fist still ablaze in its face.

Down it went.

"That was it?" Natsu scratched his head staring at the beast hunched over on the ground. With a creature of that size it should have taken a ton more hits than that. Staring at the creature, he observed what it looked like. Without being on a rampage the veins subsided back into its skin, leaving it to look like a massive dog. Its skin was a deep blue and it had a long tail with a white tip. _Wait a moment... _The fire breather thought as he walked around to face the creatures backside.

On its back in between its shoulder blades was a green Fairy Tail tattoo with tiny white wings on either side of it.

"Happy?" Disbelief and grief struck him in an instant. In the happenings of the day he hadn't even noticed that Happy had been missing, but thinking about it... Happy hadn't been with him. At all. How had he not noticed? He had been so caught up in finding Lucy to apologize that his longest companion had gone missing and his dumbass self hadn't even noticed. Resulting in this. A beast infected with dark magic.

Wrong, his longest and best friend infected with dark magic. Happy was no beast and even if _Akuma_ tried to turn him, it only changed his outside, not his insides.

Happy wasn't meant or built for battle. Even though he tried his damned hardest. He definitely leveled higher than anyone else in flight and speed though, which saved and helped Natsu countless times on missions. His mind could barely wrap around the thought as to what were to happen if this infected Happy were to get into flight and use his speed attack. Furthermore, he didn't want to find out and if he were to get a real nice hit on Happy he'd pass out or die. No matter how big he was, Natsu was not an equal match for the Infected. It was only his size that won.

But then again he was infected with this black stuff, who knows what it could do to his system and his abilities. Amplify them?

_I'm sorry my friend, I was so careless. _The body started to move. _Shit._

The pink haired mage steadily moved away from the body thinking that if it were to jump up he'd get hit hard. It seemed as if it were just one thing after another in his life Lisanna, Lucy, and now Happy. Why couldn't it just be simple sometime?

Infected Happy grumbled and groaned getting back onto all fours shaking his head as if to shake off Natsu's punch. So, this bigger version could take a punch, but how many? The Dragon Slayer was not wanting to find out and not even wanting to fight the creature anymore. _There has to be another way._

**UNSION RAID; SAND VORTEX.**

Happy got thrown into the air and slammed back down with a massive attack made up of a sand funnel that had been combined with extensive amounts of wind energy

"Don't let him get up!" A feminine voice ordered.

"Got it!" Another but more softer toned answered.

**Sky Dragon's Claw.  
><strong>"Virgo! Follow Wendy's Dragon Claw down onto the beast!"

Stunned, Natsu watched Lucy crouch down, connect her hands, and launch Wendy high into the sky giving her ultimate reach with her Dragon Claw. Virgo then jumped right below Wendy in the air ready to take the push the Sky Dragon's attack would provide. Whipping out her chains, the Celestial Spirit enfolded them around Happy's neck. The Blue haired Mage yelled right as she swung her foot down unto Virgo's back launching the Spirit in a direct line towards the Creature.

As Virgo approached, the chains helped keep her attack straight and steady.

"No!" Natsu shrieked getting back into the scene that was playing out in front of him slowly reaching out.

Too late. Direct hit.

Virgo collided with the Beast leaving nothing but a shockwave and dust that sent Wendy spinning before she touched ground, Natsu skidding back on his knees while shielding his eyes with his arms, and Lucy onto her back.

"Wendy!" Lucy stared up as Wendy flew past her in the air. Instinctively she summoned Loki to catch the small Dragon Slayer before she landed dangerously.

Natsu used his scarf to cover his mouth until the dust cleared leaving witness to a huge crater with Happy as the center piece. Virgo stood near Lucy, helping her up and dusting her off before bowing and disappearing in a poof of gold dust.

"HAPPY!" The Dragon Slayer ran to the edge of the crater, staring at the bulk of blue mass. Not sure what kind of damage two hits like that would cause. Its arm moved a bit, giving Natsu the sign he needed. That he was alive, but it disturbed him that he was hit so hard and brutally one after another and was still able to move again and recover so quickly compared to when the Fire Dragon Slayer knocked him down. Happy was definitely getting stronger so he obviously needed to be encased before something really went wrong.

Hearing small coughs from his right brought him back from his thoughts.

"You okay?" He heard Lucy ask Wendy as Loki set her down.

"Thanks to Leo!" Wendy looked up at Loki and smiled in gratitude.

"Anytime, little princess." Wendy's face glowed red.

"Thank you Loki." Natsu witnessed Lucy's forever kindness by giving her Spirit a hug for doing his job, "You always help me out when I'm in a pinch." She laughed as she lightly punched his arm, "Now, to deal with that." He caught her eyes staring at the crater then him.

* * *

><p>"I could have handled it by myself!" Her fellow Dragon Slayer was being a small push over again. After everything her and Lucy had done for him. Not even a thanks, but then again that's how Natsu seemed to handle things, Wendy observed.<p>

"Well, now that he is knocked out. What do we do?" Wendy questioned. The beast was too big for the three of them to carry. It would at least take all afternoon to drag it up to the guild.

"I've got it. Taurus!" The Bull appeared taking a swift look at Lucy's new attire of tight jeans, her usual black boots, and a quarter length v-neck, light blue top that complemented her cleavage.

"Gorgeous as always Madam Lucy!" Wendy didn't understand why Taurus was like this around Lucy, but she had learned to just ignore it.

"Taurus, we really need your help right now. That creature is too big for us to carry, can you carry it to the guild?" Lucy was brave to brush off Taurus' affectionate feelings and get straight to the point.

"Anything for you babe." Taurus winked and raced over to where the monstrous being lay picking him up with only one arm throwing it over his shoulder, "Let's go!" Wendy laughed, he is always enthusiastic as Lucy. So they both led the way to the guild.

"Natsu." Wendy caught her guild mate's eyes. They were concerned, "Are you okay?" She wasn't sure, but she could have sworn in the midst of the battle, she heard him cry out Happy. Was it possible?

"Yeah. There is just a lot going on and it's overwhelming." He never talked like that to her often, but when he did she always made sure to listen and comfort him, "First Lisanna, now this..." He was indeed troubled and little Wendy could feel it in the air.

"I'm not sure, but when Virgo hit. You yelled No and then I could have sworn that you said Happy's name." He stiffened. Wendy definitely had heard right. "That creature that we just took down was... Happy?" She gasped, "But.. How?"

"I was careless and dumb. Didn't look after him like I should have. And whatever that stupid leech is in Lisanna poisoned him. With what I don't know. I was hoping Freed or Levy could come up with a containment cell for him if our basements couldn't hold him. I just need to be able to examine him. See if I can get a reaction out of the old happy. I should have been around to protect him.." His voice trailed off as he glanced up at Lucy talking rapidly with Taurus. The Sky Dragon daughter followed his gaze and felt guilt hang on his shoulders as if everything that was happening was his fault.

"Nothing will happen to her Natsu. We're doing our best to get Lisanna back as well. We're family after all. We look after each other and take care of each other in the most dire times. Even if one strays from the path... We'll get them back. It's our way." The little Mage couldn't think of the proper words of motivation without sounding bad, "But Natsu as your Dragon companion and guild mate, We'll get them all back to normal. I promise." Even with the events that stung a little, she could smile for Natsu. He was having to suffer so much right now and all he needed was a little hope.

In all the times Wendy had known Natsu, she'd rarely ever seen him sulk like so. He was always charged and full of energy, ready to take on the day. His friends and guild mates were his motivation and strength and as of lately she could tell Lucy influenced his feelings a lot.

Being in Fairy Tail for the time she'd been in, she'd learn to never take anything for granted and to give it her all when it came to battles. Everyone always did their best in battles pushing themselves to the edge so in time she learned to ignore Carla to give it her all without her exceed telling her what to do. It helped strengthened her mentally and physically making it easier for her to heal and attack without running out of Magic energy so fast. Natsu had been her beginning inspiration due to him being of the same origin followed by the rest of the guild. They all treated her with such high regard. Regard she didn't believe she deserved.

She'd grown so much from when she'd transferred from Caitshelter to Fairy Tail due to the Nirvana incident. Fairy Tail had welcomed her with open arms when she had no where to go. Natsu and Gajeel(Not willingly) had come to help her utilize her powers like she had never known, happy had fallen for Carla, she had witness Gajeel gaining a companion, Pantherlily, who, even though he denies it, made him a softy, and Cana confessed to Gildarts to being his daughter. Wendy got to experience all these new missions, emotions, and powers over a span of such a short time. Memories and friends she'd never forget.

So for everything she was thankful for she smiled at Natsu with a genuine smile of gratitude and happiness. The fire breather returned the smile, which she too, knew was genuine.

_The next few however long is going to be extremely rough Natsu, but I know and the guild knows that if anyone can conquer it, it's you. I have faith in you my friend. _Wendy thought. Maybe after all this him and Lucy could finally have that talk.


	8. Chapter 7

Update;

Ladies and Gentleman. I would thoroughly love to thank you for reading and following my works. Especially when I haven't been able to gain the freedom to update almost TWO years. So my absolute sincerest thanks. I would buy everyone Ice Cream. If you live in Florida; PM me and it might be possible! If not I can only genuinely love you from far. In the last two years so much has happened. A relationship I had been in came to an end, I have buckled down on my college, and I switched jobs after four years. I just wanted to inform you that I will be updating ASAP. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism. I want to make my work as good as it can be, but also feel free to just let me know that you like it enough for more :)

Again. Thank you. I will be finishing this story. Whether it's sooner than later, I don't know, but it WILL see a FINALE.

HERE IS A SLIGHT RECAP:

Lucy loves Natsu, Natsu loves Lucy, but neither have had the proper opportunity to tell one another. Thinking the other one doesn't love them back. On top of that Lucy is too nice to ignore Lisanna's feelings, but Natsu being Natsu tries to go about it in the wrong way and Lisanna takes it pretty hard. On a mission with Natsu and Happy, Lisanna comes a crossed a book written by a strange character name _Akuma_. Strangely enough Akuma was the nickname given to a supervillian at the beginning of the Magi to a man named Yuriko because he harnessed black magic like no one had seen before! SO! He has attached himself to Lisanna's body and soul because she started to get depressed that she wasn't loved in the same way Natsu loved Lucy. Yuriko chose Lisanna as well because she is a take over mage, just as he was when he was alive. Happy was infected by the black ooze coming from Lisanna. NOW YOU ARE ALL CAUGHT UP :)

* * *

><p>Attempt after attempt to get Happy back to normal was another test on patience. Natsu believed that by the time all of this was over, he would be the <em>master <em>of patience. He watched Freed and Levy spend most of their time diving into research upon research on how to stop Yuriko (nicknamed Akuma) and his poison from destroying Happy or anything else that became infected.

When the guild members had brought Happy back Freed had immediately started reenforcing runes in the basement to seal happy in and keep anyone out. Natsu believed he could cox Happy back to himself. Sending him words of encouragement or reminders of all the good times they had shared. The big blue beast would settle down and listen intently wanting to break through, but in the end he would grab his head in agony, holler ferociously, and revert to the way he had been.

Makarov believed it was best to keep them apart seeing as it reacted strongly to Natsu. Reluctantly, the fire mage backed off giving the "professionals" in the field of research some space.

"But, if you decide to try anything and experiment. I demand to be there. You can't stop me." Without a reply, the son of Igneel turned on his heel to another destination that he wasn't too sure he was welcome at either; Lucy's. He figured now that he knew about the situation he could sit and talk with her. She would understand him better than anyone else and would be able to shed some light on the depressive rut daring to snatch him from reality.

Without glancing up he automatically and even instinctively knew which one was hers. The sunflower had thrived unbelievably and was now housed on the windowsill threatening to steal all the sunlight in the sky. For the first time all day Natsu had to smile.

Before heading upstairs or jumping through the open window, his perfect sense of smell captured a vague scent of Lucy wafting through the air almost completely masked by the briskness of spring. She hadn't been there since early morning. Sighing, Natsu kept walking, she was most likely training and would hate to be disturbed since her training was so vital to her survival right now. Frustrated he frantically ruffled his hair angry at the fact he was absolutely helpless right now.

_Why can__'__t anyone need my help? Why am I allowed to just meander while everyone is off working themselves to solve this? Why must I be considered as getting in the way? or absolutely Useless in such a time of need? Because Makarov said my time will come. I hate having to wait._

"Natsu?" A quiet voice shook him out of his thoughts. Shaking them away he glanced over and saw a small figure snacking against a tree.

"Wendy!" His attempt at masking his decent into depression failed. The dark blue-haired Dragon mage patted the spot in the grass next to her smiling up at him.

"You look like you need someone to talk to." She offered him half her sandwich. His stomach betrayed him loudly as he dropped down next to her accepting her offer, "I take it you were looking for Lucy."

"Yeah. No one seems to need me to do anything right now except stay away from them." Natsu grumbled as he swallowed his half whole triggering Wendy to offer up some of the fruits she had brought with. He must have forgotten to eat throughout all the trouble and it wasn't until that sandwich went down did starvation hit him. He watched as Wendy just smiled and kept offering him food like she had unlimited supply stashed away somewhere.

"You know Natsu, I used to feel that way all the time when I first came to Fairy Tail," Her voice was always soothing to the soul, "I was weak, small, and fragile from having never seriously been in a life threatening battle that would push me to work harder, but after I was accepted into the guild I started to observe everyone."

Despite how she felt, Natsu had never seen her as weak or fragile. From the beginning when Nirvana happened and almost annihilated her guild, which wasn't real in the first place, Wendy had over come it even at such a young and confusing age. He had seen her motivation grow day by day and her strength increase as she accepted more of her Dragon slaying abilities. From the get go she was able to tap into powers of buffing her team mates, attacking if needed, and even healing. All she needed was enough energy.

"I always felt that no one needed me because I would get in the way. I didn't have massively offensive attacks, but I accepted that being part of a guild meant I was needed even if it wasn't being needed in the same way as everyone else." Wendy reminisced through the clouds, "My buffs were able to protect anyone, my healing was useful after the battle, and most of all I was able to encourage my new found family with words. I learned that sometimes words are the only power one needs on the brink of death. So I accepted that I might not be needed right now and I might not be able to lend a helping hand, but that's just because there is something with my name on it. Something only my abilities can help with," She giggled as she caught his eyes, "That's what makes Fairy Tail so special and different. The variety of skills we carry not just for ourselves, but for each other."

Staring at her with such admiration and awestruck, Natsu fully looked at her. He might not have ever thought of her as weak or fragile, but she had definitely been small. Yet sitting here in front of him she looked taller, wiser, and much more capable and comfortable with her abilities as a mage and comrade. After hearing her words he wasn't just looking at her, he was **really **seeing her for who she had become right under his nose.

The Wendy he had met all those years ago crying on the dusty ground of the deceased Cait Shelter was no longer here. When had that changed? When had he even taken the time to notice the difference? When had he ever taken time to just sit with her and talk like this? Learn who she was becoming? Where had all that time gone that he could have spent becoming closer?

Twice now this newly seen dragon slayer had helped him and given him the right words with the right tone at the right time. She knew how to help him, no, how to help everyone. Even if he hadn't ever accepted Wendy growing up, Natsu always knew she had the biggest and kindest heart next to Mira. Without evening thinking he leaned over and embraced her. It wasn't an embrace of passionate love, but that of an older brother seeing his long lost sister for the first time.

Returning the hug she smiled and knew she had done her job, "Hey now. This isn't like you. You might just become a big softy if you keep this up." Wendy teased as she stood up. Reaching her hand to help him up, "Let's shake some of this off with some training. We both might need it from what Master tells me we'll be up against."

Finally starting to feel like himself again, he grinned, "Definitely. But don't think I'll go soft on you!"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Wendy teased preparing for battle.

* * *

><p>"Faster." Loki and Capricorn stood adjacent to Lucy who had her back crouched low with Fleuve d'étoiles in hand. Loki dove towards her getting ready to punch. Waiting for her chance, the celestial mage noticed his hand starting to glow and immediately recognized that he was going to go all out. He was preparing to <em><strong>Regulus Punch <strong>_her if she failed in agility this time.

All day they had been going at it. Capricorn stood in as distractions while Loki came into hand to hand combat range. Capricorn decided it would be a good idea to train Lucy's mind to be able to quickly tunnel vision Yuriko, while still able to consciously dodge another opponent. Believing that tunneling to only him would keep Yuriko from finding a crack in her mind to seep through if she were distracted with a lesser opponent.

Loki closed the distance in a heartbeat and instinctively Lucy scooped her vision to him alone. Flicking her wrist Lucy lashed out her whip around his attack while simultaneously, without hesitation, back flipped avoiding a punch Capricorn tried to land near her head. With the whip still attached and Loki having missed, Lucy quickly pulled out a golden key and shouted, "Gemini!"

Two Lucy's now stood back to back, "Gemini reporting in!" Without any further talking both Lucy's ran in opposite directions around Loki and Capricorn. Circling them, Loki failed to realize the whip had been transferred from his hand to around his feet and was entangled him to the Goat's back. As the Lucy's started to run at them zig-zagging between each other, Capricorn launched himself into the air getting a good glimpse at her plan. The Lion braced himself as the two Lucy's became one and readied his fist for the final strike.

Lucy smiled as the distance between them and closed with one swift punch to her stomach. POOF. The twin's appeared in their natural form while the real Lucy ducked and uppercut Loki with a fist full of condensed magic. As her punch was halfway through. Capricorn dive boomed his master feet first ready to land the finishing blow that always seemed to stump her in speed.

Wrong.

Seconds before impact Lucy had managed to use her whip connected to Loki's legs(who was still in the air) as a rope to swing herself underneath her Lion spirit to the other side of him, avoiding Capricorn's attack all together.

The dust settled and Lucy found both her sparring partners kneeling. One in the center of a small crater, the other hunched over to catch his breath and asses the damage done by her hit.

"Very, Very nice Lady Lucy." Always the first to compose himself, her Goat dusted off his nicely tailored suit, "I was not expecting you to be able to dodge that one."

"Or lay that hit on me." Loki grimaced as he smiled, still rubbing the left side of his jaw, "I think I'm just getting progressively worse."

"Or old." Lucy teased sticking her tongue out.

"But to use a third gate Lady Lucy and follow it up with that punch. Please be careful." Capricorn reached down, picked her up, and placed her on her feet, "I will return now to let you rest. Remember, don't hesitate to call if you need anything." Bowing he disappeared in a glimmer.

"I wouldn't have had to use that third gate if you guys hadn't decided to come at me with Regulus." Lucy grumbled attaching her whip to her hip, "Are you okay? I tried to use as little magic as possible when I hit you, but I supposed I over did it." Sighing she reached up and touched his cheek, "I'm sorry."

Loki leaned into her hand and placed his over hers. They were as warm and as soft as he could remember from before he became her spirit. Every new day that she called upon him, Loki could feel her strength growing, but at the same time a small guilty conscious had settled. Guilt for Natsu, Natsu leading to Lisanna becoming evil, and evil taking Happy over. It was one vicious cycle that Lucy couldn't break away from. That's why she would push herself every day just a little harder. If she did, perhaps she could prevent anything else from happening and prevent anyone else from succumbing to darkness and who knows even get Lisanna back.

Either way, he wanted her to lean on him, not as a lover, but as a best friend. To confide in him like nothing else mattered, but that wasn't Lucy. She was more concerned about everyone else's happiness first, her problems were so little that she hid them away from everyone, but being a celestial spirit connected with a bond, Loki knew. He could feel it and that didn't stop him from caring, even if she continued to refuse to open up to him.

"Please don't look at me like that Loki." Slowly his celestial mage pulled her hand away and turned her back ready for home, "I promised I'm fine."

"Princess, don't hesitate to talk to me. Please." He placed his hand on her shoulder, "I'll return now and let you rest. We'll be here for you. Not just me, all of us, and Fairy Tail."

"I know." She gripped his hand, faced him, and smiled that trademark Lucy Heartfilia smile. His senses and emotions eased at that and bowed before glimmering off the same way as Capricorn.

Despite getting accustomed to having her spirits out, she felt a huge surge of energy return to her as she made her way back to her apartment. It always felt refreshing no matter how many times it happened.

After a successful practice, Lucy tried to think optimistically about everything, but the more she heard about what this Yuriko character was capable of it made things that much harder. Especially around Natsu. She knew she needed to talk with him, since the tumble and Lisanna becoming infected they had been apart. Master had emphasized how important it was for her to train so she dove into it not wanting to face whatever it was that needed facing.

Halfway through town she accepted that he would either be at her apartment now or show up later. No matter when, they would talk. He needed to, she needed to, and whether it became bad or good. They were best friends. Yet, the more she thought about it the more she couldn't help but realize that perhaps he had loved her too and she wasn't able to recognize the signs. After all, Lucy hadn't ever heard of Natsu loving someone before so maybe he just didn't know how to tell if it was love or not.

Reaching for her keys to her apartment she froze.

"_Hello Lucy."_

That voice. It was impossible to mistake. It was dark, deep, and sent a shiver through her bones.

"_Relax, I just want to talk." _

Between the miles and miles between them, Lucy could feel him smile. His lips curling back beaming at her mentality, exposing decrepit yellow teeth. He was fully aware she was willing to listen.

"_Go inside, lock the door, and lay down. This might take a while."_


	9. Chapter 8

So it is extremely exciting to be writing again. I have missed it so much, but such is life that it gets too stupidly busy. My class is over next week and that will mean more free time. I also picked up a part time job with my mom that so that will take me on the road for a week once a month. I'll try to update between trips! :)

Thanks for the continually support even though it's an old fic! :)

BUT SLIGHT SPOILER: PREPARE FOR FLUFF NEXT CHAPTER :3333  
>I JUST NEEDED TO SET IT UP. IT WILL HAPPEN. PREPARE YOUR FEEL GOOD FEELS~<p>

All the boring stuff has come to a close. Thank you for reading this far :3

Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima rightfully owns Fairy Tail.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for the darkness to settle in and the air around Lucy to become cold and stale. Physically her body had fallen into a state of comatose, but mentally she had been transferred to another plane. A plane that only existed for Yuriko to talk with the celestial mage. If talking would somehow help Lisanna, Lucy didn't hesitate reaching back to him.<p>

It took seconds for her subconscious to feel a snag from him. One that sewed itself onto her spirit and sucked her through a void onto neutral ground. Lucy felt herself being ripped apart then thrown through the air and landing on a soft, but firm piece of existence. Opening her eyes, she shook the nauseating pit in her stomach away before glancing around.

Everywhere she looked was an endless corridor of black; up, back, left, right. All black, except her feet. Surrounding her steps as she trekked forward was a ring of white. It followed her giving off some form of illumination probably from keeping her thinking she was falling through a pit of nothingness.

_Someone could get easily lost in here. Where am I?_

Last she remembered was hearing his voice in her head. Telling her that they needed to talk, coxing her to lie down, close her eyes, and fall through time. It made no sense until she did and felt a sickening pinch that had her subconscious temporarily ripped away. _Funny._ Lucy had thought as she watched herself leaving herself. To actually see yourself as others do was something that was hard to believe. Yet, there she was watching the image dissipate and replaced with darkness. Yuriko's voice had been so enticing. It had pulled her legs without her permission leading her to her bed from the door. He had controlled her without even realizing it until it was too late. Until she wasn't connected anymore.

Now the blonde mage had started running with no direction in mind, but it had to lead somewhere or else she wouldn't have been brought here. The heels on her boots clicked and echoed in the eerie silence until she skid to a stop. A few meters in front of her laid a curled up body that seemed to want to shrink away from existence. The thing that caught her attention was the reflection of the bodies silver hair. It was more than familiar to her by now.

Lisanna.

Lisanna was cowering on her side holding her knees up to her chest. Her face looked somewhat peaceful except for the tears escaping from behind closed eyes and her lips quietly mouthing the same thing over and over. Inching forward Lucy hesitated as she noticed tendrils protruding from her body squirming aimlessly through the air, "Lisanna?"

The tendrils froze prior to them straightening to a point and shot out towards Lucy like daggers that had been thrown. Preparing for the oncoming attack the Celestial mage locked her knees and used her arms as a shield, but let out screech when an invisible force field stopped her attacker inches from her face. Confusion swept her expression as the tendrils pulled back and continued their wriggling above Lisanna.

"_Don't look so confused. They aren't here." _Piercing the darkness his voice rang through her ears.

"What are you talking about?" cemented in place, Lucy watched and waiting for someone to appear. As her legs were ready to start running towards the voice, the surrounding area lightened to a grey revealing a black silhouette in the distance.

"_That's just an image from another plane. Lisanna isn't really here she is just a part of my subconscious that I brought along for a joy ride!" _He laughed, "_Don't look so distraught. She's fine."_

Turning back Lucy saw what was really surrounding her. Wrapped around Lisanna's body were chains, black chains that morphed into dark tentacles dripping black ooze, ooze similar to what Happy had been secreting when they fought.

"_You're quite observant and quite right. That is the same thing I used on your little blue friend, but it seems to take a different appearance with every different thing it encounters." _ As the form moved around her, he came no closer nor farther than when he first appeared, but her eyes captured a lag in his body; the silhouette had a second delay before catching up, _"A tad misfortune I'd say. I can't move as fast as I'd prefer in here and I don't even have a physical form. Such a shame, but a minuscule shame compared to being trapped for so many centuries, " _Yuriko stretched as if he had just woken up from a nap.

"I'm here. You wanted to talk. So talk." Questions ran rampant in her mind, coursing like blood through her veins, but she had to keep him at bay. Give away some of his secrets that she might relay to the guild.

"_I love a woman who gets straight to business," _Without having to see his face Lucy could sense him smirking, "_Here is my proposition. Host me in your body and I'll let this poor girl go. She can go on and live her happy little dreams she so desperately clings to."_

"W-What?" Unable to stop its escape, surprise clung to every letter. Lucy Heartfilia hadn't been excepting any form of proposition let alone barter for Lisanna's safety. His words reeked of alterer motive throwing up more questions that were begging for an answer. Makarov's conversation about the importance of Celestial power to Yuriko surfaced as if on cue to her questions, "No. Absolutely not. I will never allow you in."

"_But don't you think you owe it to her?" _Yuriko floated his arm behind him as if inviting Lucy into a dining room. Frozen on the spot, the blonde mage watched Lisanna reappear beyond his shape, "_After all, this is __**your **__fault. Why not give her back her life Lucy? You installed doom and gloom on her by feeling something that you had no right to feel. Lisanna had always been there and you came in out of no where to take it from her. Poor thing." _One of the tendrils wrapped itself around his shadowed arm imitating a snake, "_I actually pity her. Do you know what she keeps saying in her little ball. _I hate you. _So much rage, sadness, and loneliness…_"

Yuriko's voice trailed off.

It wasn't until those three words slipped from his lips that Lucy felt as if the bone structure of her very existence shattered with guilt. Soon, Lucy could vaguely hear Lisanna's voice chanting hatred; over and over. Guilt for Lisanna, for Natsu, for failing at protecting her family, and for failing to eradicate these dreadful emotions she felt for that stupid dragon slayer.

"I'm so sorry Lisanna…" Tears that had been held in for days, weeks even leaked without end, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. It all just happened so suddenly. These feelings…I couldn't escape and I even tried. I tried to let him go, but it hurt to much. I love you Lisanna. I never did it to hurt you and I never wanted to hurt you…" grapsing her heart, Lucy fell to her knees blurry vision failing to register Yuriko's decent upon the Celestial maiden.

"_Perrrrrfect…" _The shadow whispered as he closed in ready to use his take over magic to swap bodies. Thrusting out his hand to grasp onto Lucy's head, the shadow wailed an inhuman sound before being launched backwards. Instantly it became quiet and Lucy could no longer hear the vulgar and stabbing words from Lisanna.

Wiping her eyes, Lucy stared up at a man who had materialized; a physical and vibrant young man. Brown hair hung in uneven strands around his eye brows, parting on the left, his eyes a vibrant green separated by a slightly crooked nose, and radiating from his body was a white glow surrounding both him and Lucy shielding off the darkness.

"W-Who are you?" Lost for words, she steadily got to her feet, "How did you get here?"

"_Step back Yuriko." _His voice boomed causing the plane to tremble completely ignoring her, "_You should have known that I was already here."_

"_Well, well, well. If it isn't my old friend" _Yuriko composed himself and hissed between his teeth, "_I figured you were obliterated with our last battle and fed to the Forgotten Pit of Souls; your lovely soul of light would have fulfilled its appetite."_

"_It is time for you to leave Yuriko, Now." _the mystery man's jaw clenched as his aura of light continued to grow pushing the silhouette back farther and farther.

"_Fine Ojitoyu. For now, but just wait. Your time will come." _In the blink of an eye all the darkness was gone and left Lucy and Ojitoyu engulfed in light.

"_Are you alright Lucy Heartfilia?"_

"Not right now," After this stranger had saved her from herself spiraling into a trap of guilt, the blonde princess had no need to lie to him. There were so many things she had to acknowledge before facing that dreadful man again. Things that he would continue to use against her; accepting that loving Natsu wasn't a choice and that none of this was all her fault. As Lucy composed herself the feeling of dread from what Yuriko was trying to accomplish settled. He was a tormentor of emotions, torturer of souls, and compelling mages to feel whatever he was implying. She had made it too easy for him. His voice had been so calming yet threatening and whatever that devil had wanted he had almost snatched it away without any difficulty and that was what Master had been trying to teach her to deflect. Now that the Celestial mage had first hand experience, she could prepare for more.

The man cleared his throat interrupting her thoughts, "_You don__'__t know me, but as that venomous snake said my name is Ojitoyu. I am here to help you Lucy, but only if you__'__d let me.__"_

"Ojitoyu? Why does that sound familiar…" hitting her in the face Lucy recollected another conversation with Makarov, "The second Wizard Saint?!"

"_Precisely, and if you would be so kind as to let me help you. I am the only one who can defeat this leech, but I refuse to take a host without them acknowledging me and what I am capable of.__" _His voice was calm and soothing, "_Let alone the dangers I may bestow upon you in the process.__" _

Standing chin length to him Lucy grazed his features. His skin looked soft, but worn and his green eyes were wise as if they'd seen battle to the end of the Earth. Everything about his demeanor was relaxing and put her in a light trance forcing her body to feel extremely heavy. _What would Master have me do? This man was a good guy, he helped stop Akuma in the past which means he has the ability to do it. From what I__'__ve been told and researched with Levy he is all good and pure. We need him, but at what cost?_

"I'll do it." Exhaustion swept through shoving her to one knee, "What's happening?"

"_You__'__ve exerted too much energy for being here as long as you have, your body is ready to pull you back,__" _The Wizard Saint kneeled and placed his hand on her shoulder, "_I will be near if you need me just like your Celestial Spirits. I will not inherit your body as Akuma has done because that is dark magic, but if you need me. Call upon me and I will appear. You are strong Lucy, remember that.__" _

The Celestial bearer opened her mouth to ask so many questions, but before anything could escape, she felt that nasty pinch snag her and yank her back to her bedside.

"Lucy?" Pink hair and onyx eyes filled with concern greeted her as she regained consciousness, "Lucy, are you okay? What happened?" He seemed out of breath, but in good spirits. Well, better than lately.

"What are you doing here Natsu?" Stupid question.

"To see if you were okay. I was on my way back from training with Wendy and your scent…." He hesitated, "You smelled off… That's all." Embarrassed the dragon slayer turned his back on her sitting on the edge of the bed.

Lucy observed his rigid posture and twiddling thumbs as a sign of concern that he was trying to mask. She knew him better than that and sighed, _Perhaps I__'__ll wait to talk to him about it tomorrow. _"I just want to sleep." Her thoughts finished out loud as Lucy laid back down her back to him.

"Alright…" He replied quietly starting to rise for the door, but stopped suddenly when he felt a soft, warm, but shaking hand coil around his wrist. Without needing words Natsu turned back to her and steadily lowered himself onto the bed. He snuggled up behind her, wrapping his arms around her as he was so accustomed to doing, but this time was different. The fire eater could sense how low her magic level was and that it hadn't been from training. Lucy had been fighting a battle inside of her that she must have struggled desperately with, but as he felt her ease into his chest, the shaking calmed down to a minimum and her breathing steadied out to a slumber.

Insomnia had etched itself into his DNA since everything had escalated, but now as his ragged breathing fell in tune with hers, Natsu felt himself slipping into a coma like sleep wishing it would never have to end.

* * *

><p>"Gray, Have you found anything?" Erza rarely got frustrated, but when she did the fire red-haired mage was ready to pull her hair out.<p>

"Actually, I did. Look at this." Gray yanked a tome out and threw it open to the center page on top of the book Erza had been scanning for what felt like months.

Since Master had sent Erza and Gray to the Archive of Magi they were positive it wouldn't take long to find what they were looking for, but that had turned out to be a massive lie. The Archive of Magi stretch all ways, endless shelves of books upon books that were so dusty a sand storm couldn't even compare and made it seem impossible to slim down their search.

At first they searched aimlessly until they finally found their first clue leading them to a sector that had once been the beginning of the archives. The room they entered was lit with a massive chandelier swinging from an invisible breeze. Directly in front of them stood a metal fence that was locked with two chains imbedded with ancient incantations. As to why it was so heavily locked Erza and Gray could have cared less, but in that vault they found everything they had needed to know even the unasked question about the locks. These records were accounts of those who had suffered unimaginable things during the time Yuriko had taken over before, during, and after Ojitoyu had stepped in and had been locked due to spirits that had been entrapped within the archives.

Gray was a bit sceptic at first, utterly terrified of what else other than spirits lay within that Vault, but Erza had reassured him it would be fine. Now, it had felt like a second home. Book after book nothing seemed to stick out as a clue to help them until now.

"Read this," Tracing his finger over a paragraph in the middle of the book, "We're getting closer to helping Lisanna." A small flicker of joy was shared quietly between the two. They had searched so long and hard for answers and resolutions and they had finally found it.

"Gray, if this is true. Lucy is in danger as well." Erza hesitated as she flipped the page.

"Every solution pointed to death Erza, but this…. Lucy and Lisanna. They'll be okay. These people were witnesses, victims even and can account for being rescued. Even Happy can be cured." Gray felt a some comfort in that. Happy was still struggling without end in the basement of the Fairy Tail building, "We'll write down the antidote and gather what we need."

Erza nodded, "I'll send word that we heading back and we'll pick up the ingredients on the way." The tension was starting to lift. As her eyes skimmed one page to the next, she stopped on the last entry. Paralyzed with fear she read allowed,

"_Although the battle has been raging on for years. I feel a shift in the air today. Today will be different and I will be making sure he is sealed away for good. I can feel his energy dwindling, but so is mine. We__'__re matched; hit for hit, power for power, light vs. darkness. A never ending cycle that we have spent so long destroying everything around us. I fear it might always be that way. If I seal him away, I will go as well. I will attach myself to his soul acting as a chain to bind him in limbo. I know how to defeat him, but my strength alone isn__'__t enough in this time. When I connect with him before his entrapment I will put my power on reserve so if he is to escape I will be recharged when awoken. One day it will come to fruition and if so, however he escapes. I will be right there along with him.__"_

"Gray…." Erza locked eyes with the frost mage.

"I know…" Their voices echoed leaving behind an eerie silence. Gray stared at his fiery companion in a mutual acceptance that this wasn't good news. Sure, Ojitoyu was seen as a hero, a good guy, but these two forces were so strong it would destroy another city, town, maybe even the whole country. Gray wasn't ever the biggest fan of humanity, but over the years the town had learned to fully accept Fairy Tail even with how boisterous it got. The idea of them getting destroyed sickened Gray. Magnolia, no, Fiore would be eliminated from existence. Their families, friends, and home. Gone.

Both Erza and Gray knew they had to get back, not just for their Guild's sake, but for their country.


End file.
